Temporal Thunder
by Jurai Knight
Summary: A side story for Quantum Destinies set in the Imperial Japan timeline, starring the Kyosuke Kasuga of Kimagura Orange Road suddenly finding himself there, having swapped places with QD's Kyosuke. It was not written by me, but by a QD fan named Stardragon.
1. Chapter 1

Temporal Thunder

This is a side story of S. Thesken's Quantum Destinies fanfic. All characters within are owned by their creators. Quantum Destinies was created by S. Thesken.

Standard Disclaimers: All characters herein belong to their respective creators no matter how much I wish I owned them.

Note: This story is based on the Manga. Certain things happened differently compared to the TV and OVA series. It takes place almost at the end. Everything has been revealed. Madoka has left for the States and Kyousuke has broken up with Hikaru and is waiting for Madoka to return and tell him her feelings.

Part 1: Waking up to a whole new world.

Bolting upright, a teenage boy woke up in the middle of the night. *What a nightmare* he thought *That demon was so real. And so big.* He shuddered. *Could it be... No way. Even after all that I've already been through. Things like that couldn't possibly exist.* Dismissing the nightmare as just that, he lay down back into his bed and went back to sleep. Had he paid more attention to his surroundings, however, he would have noticed that the room he was in was not his own.

Early in the morning, the boy slept peacefully in bed, unaware of what had transpired. This was, of course, not to last. A female figure had just entered the room and would soon bring the illusion of normality to an end.

"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY BOY!" she screamed. "How long are you going to stay in bed? You have to go to school soon!"

The boy woke up with a start. Noticing the unfamiliar person in uniform in front of him, his eyes widened. "What the- who are you? And what are you doing in my room?" were the first words out of his mouth.

A decidedly fatal way to greet one's mother. Especially when you belong to a family of Espers where Telekinesis is a common hereditary Power.

"KYOUSUKE KASUGA!" Akemi Kasuga's eyes narrowed. "Is this any way to greet your mother?" Kyousuke quickly ducked a barrage of telekinetically thrown books.

*Mother?* he thought in surprise.

Being an Esper, Kyousuke Kasuga had gotten used to having strange things happening around him. And having been to a parallel world before, Kyousuke learned quickly that he had slipped into another parallel world. Again.

*Not again..* he groaned inwardly. Recovering quickly, he peeked out from under his covers. Seeing no more objects in the air, he quickly stammered, "I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE!" He waved his arms in front of him to emphasize that fact.

"Well I hope so," his mother crossed her arms in front of her. "Now get up. You must get ready for school. It would not do for you to be late. As an exchange student at the Imperial Academy, you must not disgrace us." With that, she left the room, leaving a confused Kyousuke behind.

*Mom* he thought wistfully as he recalled the woman in his room. *In this world, she is still alive.* Having lost his mother at an age of two, his own recollections of the woman were sketchy at best. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he went onto more important things. Namely how he got here, and, more importantly, how to get back home.

*How the hell did I slip into a parallel world THIS time?* he wondered. *I don't recall falling from anywhere. Nor did I hit my head, so how did I.. Oh shit,* he thought as he recalled the dream from last night. *The nightmare. I must have unconsciously 'slipped' here because of the fear. Now how am I supposed to get home?* he felt like tearing his hair out. *I would need to have another nightmare like that.* He had no intention of trying to get home by falling down the stairs or by falling from a motorcycle.

Falling from the stairs not only had a terrible chance of success and promised lots of pain when the attempt failed, it could also trigger his time travel capability. Somehow, he doubted that travelling through time would get him home, and the idea of having to spend more time here than necessary was also a put off. Not to mention the danger of creating a temporal paradox. The idea of falling off a motorcycle he did not even want to consider.

At that moment, another terrible thought occurred to him. *Could that nightmare have been a prophetic dream? Impossible. Demons don't exist.* Shaking off that idea, he started to get a hold of his surroundings.

Looking around his room for the first time, he noticed that it was not his room at Green Apartments. The room was larger for one. It was also more opulently furnished. Yet, the room was eerily familiar.

Getting out of bed, he walked to 'his' desk. *Sun-Tzu's Art of War? Advanced Metaphysics? What kind of school am I attending? The Esper Military Academy?* he looked at his books in confusion. A picture of a girl with two braids, carrying a sword stood on his desk. *Who is this? She is pretty.* he quickly quashed the thought. The mental image of Ayukawa coming into his head.

Walking over to his closet, he opened it to find a set of gray uniforms. They belonged to no school that he recognized and, after having to move seven times in his life, with an accompanying number of schools and cities, he recognized quite a number. To the side were a few sets of normal clothing. A collection that was small even compared to the one he owned at home. After quickly slipping on one of the uniforms, he went to his desk. Having no idea what classes he had, he started to put all 'his' books into 'his' school bag.

While doing so, he sought out some clue as to what school he went to. Finding a student card, his spirits rose a little. *Finally. A lucky break.* he thought as he read the card. *Kyousuke Kasuga. Year 2 Cadet at the Imperial Academy, Mobius Institute?* Confused, he continued to read the card. The next part almost made his eyes pop out of their sockets. *Esper? They know that I'm an ESPER?* His hands started to shake as he read further. *Psychic Abilities: Teleportation (Major), Telekinesis (Major), Telepathy (Almost non existent), Clairsentience (None), Mystic Rank Null.*

*Damn. WHERE AM I? It seems that the family's secret isn't any secret here.* Fear crept into his heart, what if- Kyousuke quickly dismissed the idea that he could be kidnapped by secret government agencies who may want to use him. If the family secret was an open fact here and he was not in some sort of cell, he probably need not worry about it.

At the same time, a sense of relief washed over him. Since his powers were not a secret, his life would definitely be less stressful.

Still, his grandfather's warnings about not revealing his powers rang in his mind. From the list of powers on the card, it did not appear that they were aware of his other special powers.

He would have to be careful not to show that he had other capabilities than his counterpart. A tough order, considering that he could probably use most of his powers freely. In fact, it would not surprise him if the use of Power was encouraged at this Mobius Institute.

*Kyousuke. Have you gotten out of bed yet?* his mother called to him telepathically.

*Yes, Mom.* he replied instinctively.

*Then hurry up and come down for breakfast. Or you will be late.* his mother said.

Stepping warily out of his room, he came into a hallway which led to a stairway. Resisting the urge to try to get home by throwing himself down the stairs, he headed slowly downstairs. Entering the living room, the feeling that he knew the house from somewhere started to grow.

The living room was large and spacious. Expensive-looking furniture was placed tastefully around the room. The walls, however, were conspicuously bare, none of the pictures that his father took hung there. Despite the opulence of the place, the room felt more like a show room than a living room of a home. Without thinking about how he knew it, he walked past the empty dining room into the kitchen, where 'his' mother waited.

"Good, you are finally ready." She said from her seat at the table. "Come, sit down and have your breakfast." On the table, only two sets of plates had been laid out, making it unmistakable where he should sit.

Quietly wondering why there were only two plates, he seated himself and proceeded to eat. His breakfast consisted of simple cold cereal and milk. Thinking back to how his father had said that both Ayukawa and Hikaru reminded him of his late wife, he began to examine the woman who was supposedly his mother as he ate.

She does bear a resemblance to Ayukawa was Kyousuke's first thought. They were both beautiful and had a mysterious look in their eyes. Her dark hair, though, was tied back into a bun instead of Ayukawa's loose flowing hair. The neat paramilitary-style uniform she wore was also a contrast to what Ayukawa would normally wear. Even in her school uniform, Ayukawa always managed to appear different from the other girls.

On the other hand, in spite of close scrutiny, he could not find any resemblance to Hikaru. Kyousuke seriously asked himself how Hikaru could remind his father of his mother.

A little of the twins features could also be seen in her face. That thought made him think about how much they probably would like to be here, to see her, even though she was not really their mother.

"Kyousuke," she spoke up as she finished, "I will be working late again tonight." Taking out her purse, she took out several bills and laid them in front of Kyousuke. His eyes grew wide as he picked up the bills and counted the amount that he was given. Ten thousand yen. He had never had so much money at one time before. "Buy yourself something for dinner, okay?"

Standing up from the table, she picked up her bag on her way out of the dining room. "And remember to wash up before you leave." She called out as she left. A short moment later, Kyousuke heard the sounds of a car driving away from the house.

Sitting now alone in the kitchen, Kyousuke breathed a sigh of relief. *Whew, she didn't notice anything.* He now turned his thoughts to getting back home. He had to get home. Quickly. Before he ran into his counterp-. Uh oh. He had appeared in this strange house, in his counterpart's bed. Where his counterpart SHOULD have been. That could only mean that that nightmare must have caused them to switch places somehow.

Well, at least his counterpart had better luck than he did. His family would take care of him and help him get by without arousing suspicions. He, on the other hand, had no such luck. That dark gray, almost black uniform his 'mother' wore looked so forbidding. Not to mention those black gloves. It gave him the impression that she was part of some sort of secret police or something. Little did he know how right he was. For now, he decided that he would avoid telling her that he was her son from a parallel timeline as long as possible.

Now what was he to do to get home? He doubted that he would be so lucky as to have another nightmare that would send him home soon. That meant that he will have to wait for help, or for his screwed up abilities to send him home. With some luck, Grandpa will be able to find him and get him out of this mess. In the meantime, he will just have to act as though nothing had happened, he thought as he cleaned up.

Walking back out into the living room, he tried to figure out why this house seemed so familiar. Having no forms of enlightenment, he picked up his bag and walked out of the house.

As he locked the door behind him and stepped away from the house, it hit him. This was Ayukawa's house. That was why it had been so familiar. By some strange twist of fate, in this timeline, he lived in the house where Ayukawa lived in his timeline. Shaking his head at the coincidence, he started to walk away and headed for school.

It was after walking four blocks and coming to an unknown intersection later that he realized that he had no idea where the school was.

Dejectedly, he started his way back. He could only hope that he could find some sort of map back in the house that revealed where the Mobius Institute was. There was no way he could ask for directions without raising suspicions.

For that matter, why on earth was he going to a school he was unfamiliar with anyway? Kyousuke stopped in his tracks as that thought came to him. He could pretend to be sick and work on getting back home. That way, he could avoid lots of trouble. Shaking his head at his own idiocy, he turned to head back 'home'.

Little did he know that the fates did not intend to let him off that easily. So deeply was he involved in his thoughts that he had not paid any attention to where he had been going. He did not realize that he had stopped in the middle of a road.

Just at the moment he reached the decision, a motorcycle suddenly raced around a corner and rushed towards him.

In testament to the skill of the rider, the motorcycle swerved around Kyousuke as he dropped onto the ground, missing him by centimeters, and came to a stop right next to him. Heart still pounding from the near collision, Kyousuke sat there, frozen in shock.

"YOU IDIOT!" a surprisingly familiar voice screamed at him, freeing him from the shock. "DO YOU THINK YOU OWN THE ROAD?" Looking up at the biker who had ripped off her helmet, Kyousuke stared up into a pair of hard green eyes that glared at him from an angry face framed by long dark hair. A face and expression he knew all too well.

*Ayukawa* was the first coherent thought that he managed to form as he found himself face to face with the girl he loved and had not seen in some time. Astride her motorcycle, she wore a uniform he did not recognize. The uniform, no one would have wore anything that ugly otherwise, had been noticeably altered such that it literally screamed 'BAD GIRL'.

"DO YOU THINK YOU CADETS FROM THE... Imperial... Academy... can... do anything... you like." She continued, the level of animosity and the volume of her voice dropping considerably. For a small detail on his uniform had just come to her attention. A detail that could spell disaster for her. With difficulty, she reined in her anger to prevent herself from continuing her tirade.

"I'm very sorry," he started to apologize as soon as they had moved of the road. To emphasize his words, he made a quick bow to her, not wanting to be subjected to another one of her slaps. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Noting that Ayukawa had gone completely silent, he risked a glance at her. Although her anger was still displayed on her face, her expression had changed to one that Kyousuke had only seen a few times before. To someone that did not know her as long and as well as he did, the change would not have been obvious. But he had known Ayukawa for three years now. Six if you counted the fact that they had met her when his grandfather had sent him back in time. Together, they had seen ups and down in their relationship and experienced a lot together. HE knew what that look meant. It was the look that she wore whenever someone questioned her about her fear of ghosts.

*What could have caused that reaction?* Kyousuke wondered. Looking discreetly around, he saw that they were alone. Seeing that she did not show any signs of recognizing him, he decided that it was safe to speak to her.

"Err... is something wrong?" he inquired self-consciously, scratching the back of his head and making a show of turning around.

"You... are an Esper." Madoka stated matter of factly after he turned back to face her. Her hands clenched unconsciously on her bike handles tightly.

Surprised by her statement that he was an Esper, Kyousuke looked down at himself and checked his appearance. Was there something on his person that showed that he was an Esper? Not being able to find anything, he decided to ask her.

"So, how do you know that I'm an Esper?" he asked with a forced smile.

Thinking that he was patronizing her, Madoka had to refrain from answering with a sharp retort. Raising her hand, she pointed at a pin on his uniform. "The Esper pin. It marks you as an Esper." She remarked with a bit of sarcasm.

Kyousuke reached for the pin and took a good look at it. On his collar was a black pin depicting a Mobius strip that was twisted together like an infinity symbol. It had been so unremarkable that he had thought it a normal part of his uniform as he had put it on that morning. How strange that one small black pin could symbolize so much.

That was when it dawned on him. She was afraid of HIM. Or more importantly, she feared him because of his powers. She was afraid that he would use his powers on her. That thought was very disturbing. After all, back in his own world, he had decided to tell Ayukawa about the family's secret when she returned from America. Even if she was not exactly the same person as the Ayukawa he loved back in his world, he did not want her to feel that way about his powers. He had been brought up not to view other people as different from himself because of his powers after all.

Smiling as naturally as he could, he started to reassure her. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know." He hoped that she would put her fears for him aside.

Seeing her stiffen slightly at his words, he felt like knocking his head against something, preferably hard. *She must think that I'm reading her mind or something* he cursed himself inwardly.

"Look, I'm really sorry about the near accident. It was completely my fault for not paying any attention. I'm not going to use my power on you or anything. I-" He sputtered and held his hands in front of him.

"All right. All right. I believe you." She interrupted him, stopping his apologies. Somehow the clumsy way he acted had washed away the fear and anger that she had initially felt. Madoka could not help but begin to relax a little in his presence. She began to take a closer look at this Esper she had nearly rode into.

He was pretty plain-looking, but at the same time, had a boyish charm about him that put her at ease. He stood relaxed before her bike, smiling nervously as he looked at her.

"My name's Kyousuke Kasuga. I go to the Mobius Institute." Kyousuke introduced himself to this world's version of Ayukawa. After introductions were made, he would be able to speak freely with her without letting anything accidentally slip. It would not be very tragic if this Ayukawa was very different from his own, but if they were and he were to make a comment based on his knowledge of his Ayukawa...

"Good morning Lord Kasuga," Madoka replied with a short bow. "I am Madoka Ayukawa," Hesitating a bit, she continued in a small voice. "from the Kouryou Academy." Somewhere deep inside, she hoped that this information would not scare him off.

Kyousuke blinked. That was the same school they attended in his world. Strange how different the uniforms were. Still, it seemed that military school type uniforms were the norm here.

The way she addressed him made him feel uncomfortable however, it just did not seem right to hear her address him so formally.

"You can drop the title, Ayukawa." He said with a smile, falling into his normal mode of speech with her. He had no idea how much of an impression he had just made on her with those few simple words.

Madoka was surprised at his openness. "Thank you Lo-," she caught herself, "Kasuga." She was also relieved at the easy way he accepted that piece of information. Kouryou Academy was one of the most notorious schools in the entire Empire. It was where only problem students from families belonging to the lower castes were sent (Teachers tend to overlook bad behavior from students who belong to the noble houses). It was where playing truant and getting into fights were the norm and teachers had to have at least a brown belt in the martial arts.

At a loss over how to continue, Kyousuke just looked at Madoka and scratched his head.

"Don't you have to get to school?" Madoka finally asked after a short period of silence.

Reminded of that, Kyousuke laughed nervously. "Err... yes, that's right. I have to get to school." He could not very well tell her the fact that he had no idea HOW to get there or that he had no intention of going there, could he?

Acting on a whim, Madoka got off her bike and opened the seat. Inside the seat, were some music scores and a spare helmet. Reaching in and pulling out a spare helmet, she tossed it to Kyousuke. "Here, put this on. I'll give you a lift. It wouldn't do for you to be late, would it?" she gave him one of her enigmatic, catlike smiles.

Kyousuke could not help but feel his spirits rise at her offer. She was no longer mad at him. But how to refuse her politely?

"What about you? Won't you be late as well if you give me a lift?" he asked her as she climbed onto her bike.

"No, I'll be on time. Come, get on." She replied confidently and lowered her helmet over her head.

Not being able to think of any way to get out of it, Kyousuke had no choice but to put on the helmet and get onto the bike behind her. Having ridden with Ayukawa before, he settled himself with practiced ease behind her as they rode off.

As they sped through the streets, Kyousuke decided to make some small talk.

"Err... so you play music? I saw some scores just now under the seat." Sitting behind her, Kyousuke could not see Madoka's eyes flash when he asked that question.

"A little," came the curt reply.

In any other person, her tone would have discouraged from asking further. But this was Kyousuke, so he rambled on, "I bet you're very good. Maybe you can become a star someday."

Under her helmet, Madoka gnashed her teeth in anger. Whatever possessed her to offer him a ride? And to an Esper no less.

"No, I can't. Commoners like me aren't as talented as the high-born. No commoner can ever have a future in the music industry." she shot back and then pulled the bike into a sharp turn at an uncomfortably high speed.

Kyousuke might not be the most observant of people, but by now even he could tell that Ayukawa was pissed and backed off accordingly. The rest of the ride passed in silence.

Pulling up before a nondescript gray building, Madoka waited for Kyousuke to alight. After a moment, Kyousuke realized that they had arrived and hopped off the bike.

Pulling the helmet off his head, he chose his words carefully to avoid provoking Ayukawa any further.

"Ahh... Thanks for the lift. I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you," he started as he handed the helmet back to her.

"It's already been forgotten," she replied coolly, not meeting his gaze as she placed the helmet back under the seat.

An idea came to Kyousuke as he remembered the money in his wallet. "Wait," he placed a hand on her arm before she could ride off. "let me make up for it. How about I treat you to dinner. As a way of apology for the near accident and to thank you for the lift as well."

Madoka looked sharply at him. "That's not necessary."

"I insist." Kyousuke sounded determined.

Madoka stared at him for a short while and realized that he was not going to take no for an answer. How could she, a daughter of a working class family refuse such a request? "Very well, and where shall we meet?"

Kyousuke was at a loss. Parallel worlds had this irritating characteristic: They can be so similar to one's own world with regards to most things that a person would not notice any difference and yet there would be differences, sometimes large ones that simply screamed 'DIFFERENT' or small ones that would not be noticed without close inspection. The possibility that his normal haunts existed, but on the other hand, there was also the chance that they did not, or even worse, the place could exist, but was not like the one he knew. How could he suggest a place? Better play it safe.

"Umm... why don't you choose the place? I'm sure you wouldn't want to visit any of an Esper's normal meeting points."

The suggestion comforted her slightly. At least she could choose a place she was comfortable with. "I know a café nearby where we could meet and have dinner. It is called ABCB. Shall we meet at, say, seven?"

Perfect, a place which they were both familiar with. Nodding, Kyousuke agreed. "Seven it is." Smiling, he turned to leave as a sudden thought stopped him.

"Ayukawa," he called after her.

"Yes?" Madoka turned to him. *What else does he want?* She thought with a tinge of fear.

"About your music. You shouldn't care about what other people think. If you really love music, then you should be more confident in your abilities. And if you work really hard, I'm sure you can make it as a star, commoner or not."

In Madoka's head, a battle raged. Her gut reaction was to punch him for saying such a stupid thing. That, on the other hand, was mostly balanced by her self-preservation instincts. Hitting an Esper would be just plain dumb. In self-defense he could break every bone in her body without even touching her, or destroy her mind, leaving her body a mindless shell. Hitting one just outside the Mobius Institute.. well, not even a masochist would be that crazy.

And somewhere within her heart, in a place buried by the harsh life of this world, those words brought forth another emotion. One that she thought she had lost. Hope.

Snapping herself back to reality, Madoka replied in a flat, emotionless tone. "I'll keep that in mind." With that, she started her motorcycle and rode off before he could further mess with her mind.

Watching Ayukawa ride off down the road, Kyousuke let out a sigh of relief. *Whew, that's over. Now, to get away from here before someone who knows me turns up,* he thought. A quick look into the compound of the school from the gate showed that it was empty. Relieved, Kyousuke prepared to leave.

As he turned away from the gate, he found himself face to face with a red-haired girl who looked to be a year younger than him. Dressed in a uniform of the same shade of gray as his, the 'not exactly amused' look she was giving him told him immediately that he was supposed to know her. That and the fact that she was not happy with him at the moment.

"So that was the biker girl I heard about," she started.

*Please don't let her be my girlfriend in this world,* Kyousuke prayed to the heavens.

"REALLY clever of you to have her drop you off here rather than the Imperial Academy," she said sarcastically as she crossed her arms in disapproval. "That way Mano-san wouldn't see her dropping you off."

Kyousuke's mouth opened and shut as he tried to come up with a reply.

*Why that two timing jerk,* Minami fumed. *He has a perfectly good girlfriend in Yohko-san and what does he do? He goes after a delinquent biker. Well, Yohko-san is going to hear about this,* she promised.

After walking a few steps down the road toward the main campus of the Imperial Academy, she turned back to the still stationary Kyousuke.

"Well," she called back in exasperation, "aren't you coming?"

Already spinning in circles from trying to cope with her appearance, Kyousuke's mind was barely able to register the fact that the girl had not entered the building of the supposed Mobius Institute. As it was, it was unable to form any complete sentences. "Ah-" was all he could get out as he pointed questioningly at the gate and then back to Minami further down the road.

This, of course, did nothing to improve Minami's current disposition about males in general. *HE is supposed to help me adapt to the 'normals'* she thought to herself incredulously. *I'm amazed that he hasn't ruined the reputation of the Institute yet.*

"Hello?" she walked back up to Kyousuke and waved a hand in front of his face. "I'm attending the Imperial Academy with you and Gosunkugi-kun, remember? We're now immersion students at the Imperial Academy. Or has your ride with that biker girl turned your brain into mush?"

"Oh, yeah," Kyousuke forced out an embarrassed sounding laugh.

"Well then come on, or we'll be late," Minami said irritably as she took the unresisting Kyousuke by the arm.

*If I ever get back home, I definitely have to get this parallel world hopping power of mine under control,* Kyousuke thought as he was dragged away by the girl. As things were, it was too late to get out of school. All he could do was pray and hope that his cover does not get blown.

Carefully, Madoka parked her bike near the main building of Kouryou Academy. The grounds were empty. As late as she was, she was not surprised that all the other students had already been forced into the classrooms.

Madoka shrugged. It wasn't as though this was the first time she was late to school, and it certainly wouldn't be her last. She was used to the 'disciplinary' techniques of the teachers anyway. Nothing she couldn't handle.

Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way lazily to her classroom.

"Late again, I see." A voice spoke up as she entered the building.

Without even turning, Madoka knew who the speaker was from her abrasive tone. Sayuri Hirose. The resident teacher's pet. Or at least as much of a teacher's pet one could find in a school full of problem cases such as Kouryou. A scheming, conniving snit who enjoyed seeing others in trouble.

"None of your business," she shot back and continued on her way.

"Oh but it is." Sayuri replied smugly as she fell in beside her. "I was asked to wait for your Highnesses arrival. I'm supposed to pass you a message."

Madoka stopped and turned to her. "Then give it to me and get lost," she hissed.

This was met by a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? We'll see how cocky you are AFTER you hear it." She paused for effect. "You don't have to go to class so soon. The principal wants to see you. He and the board are doing the reviews again. Now guess who's name is on the list."

Madoka's eyes narrowed. "I've gotten the message. Now get lost."

Sayuri grinned in amusement at her hostile tone. Slowly and deliberately, she turned away and started down the hall for her own class.

Madoka eyed her angrily for a few moments. Turning quickly in the hallway, she stomped towards the offices.

The review. An administrative chore for the students and teachers alike of the reformatory schools. Whenever a noble got into a humanitarian mood, he would order reviews to be made for the so-called 'promising' students of the schools. To supposedly give them the chance to be reintegrated into the normal school system and become more 'productive' members of society.

A major source of frustration for all involved. Students deemed to have been 'reformed' would be sent to a normal school for a trial period. If the student performed well during which time, he or she would be allowed to remain.

It was supposed be a great source of pride for all involved. Parents would no longer have to be shamed by the fact that their child went to a reformatory academy. The teachers could pride themselves in their abilities to guide 'unformed minds' and most of all, the students would be able to get out of the 'bad' influences of their surroundings.

All this was, of course, a big joke. Everyone knew that this was just some half-baked idea thought up by some 'progressive' in the Education Ministry.

Only one in twenty student made it through the trial period unscathed. From the moment they were introduced in the new schools, they would be immediately black-marked. This inevitably led to trouble for them. Which, in turn, would result in their return to the reformatory academy. For the teachers and students, all this meant a lot of roundabout paperwork for the transfer to and from schools.

Oh, there were a handful of 'successes'. The one in twenty. In those cases, the students sought out 'sponsors', students who had power in those schools, and served them faithfully like a lap dog in exchange for protection. It was demeaning and whether one really received support from the 'sempai' depended sometimes on his or her whims.

Only the most naive students had any hope for the program. Madoka Ayukawa definitely did not belong to their ranks. Striding up to the door, she simply opened it and headed into the principal's office.

Inside, she noticed that there were fewer students waiting than usual. Not thinking too much about it, she walked up to the secretary.

"Madoka Ayukawa," she announced herself. "Can we begin now?"

With a bored expression, the secretary looked up from her work. "Sit down. I will tell them that you have arrived. When your name is called, you can go in." Then she used the intercom to inform the principal of her arrival.

Madoka was now a little confused. Normally the students were all sent in at the same time. They would then be briefed about their 'new' schools, receive a half-hearted speech about how important it is to put their delinquent ways behind them and sent on their way. She decided to find out what's going on.

Sitting down next to a junior she knew, she asked him what was going on.

"Damned if I know." He shrugged. "Some young lady from the Education Ministry came today. They called us all in here and told us to wait. Then they started to call us in individually. Those who came out said the new lady did some kind of interview. When that was over, they were sent back to class."

She thanked him. What kind of new idea is being tested out now? She wondered.

Some time later, her name was called and she entered the side office. Other than the normal staff, was the new officer. She did not seem to differ from the others. She wore a smart office suit, albeit with a headband, and was seated next to the principal. He and the other teachers in the room were showing bored disinterest in the proceedings.

*Is her hair color natural?* Madoka wondered. She had never seen anyone with teal-colored hair before.

"Good morning, Ayukawa-san," she greeted her and gestured for her to take a seat opposite her. "Please take a seat. This will only take a moment." Her tone was both professional and friendly, a real change from the tired old officers usually in charge of these proceedings. Madoka found herself wondering who she had pissed off to get assigned to this job.

Despite herself, Madoka found herself answering her greeting as she sat down.

"Ayukawa-san, I'm sure you are wondering what this program is about." She started. "Well, it has come to our attention that the old programs were not working. That is why a new system has been thought up. The new program is designed to help students like you break out from your old ways. I'm sure you do not wish to finish your schooling here either, so I'm sure you will cooperate as best you can, right?"

Receiving no reply, she continued. "For this program, we have decided to no longer just send groups of students to pre-selected schools. Instead, we will let the student to help decide where he or she will go. By examining your abilities and interests, we hope to find schools with environments that are better suited you. This way, you will be happier with the school. I hope to find a school suited to you."

Picking up the file in front of her, she began to read it. "Your records indicate that you were a good student at your old school. You consistently managed to make it into the top ranks. Your grades dropped however, after you got into a few fights there. After you were transferred here, you got into some more fights during your first few months but nothing serious. Since then no one has ever caught you in any fights, although you do come to school once in a while sporting bruises that you claim come from 'accidents'. Your grades have improved somewhat although not reaching your previous level. Since coming here, your attendance has also dropped and you have a tendency to come late for school"

"Hmm. It is also written here that you are part of a biker gang." She frowned and glanced at the teachers, "although I can find no police records of it."

Turning back to Madoka, she asked, "Do you have anything to say at this point?"

"No." Madoka replied.

"Okay. Then tell me a little about yourself. Likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests, maybe a little bit about your dreams."

"I have nothing to say." She stated.

"Oh, come on," the lady cajoled, "you must have something to say. No one has nothing that he or she does not like or dislike. The same holds true for dreams and aspirations. You must have some. Tell me about them."

"No." She replied once more, her tone cooler than before.

This caused the woman to blink. Not discouraged by her lack of success so far, she continued. "Then maybe you would like to suggest a school that you would like to attend? From what I can see, maybe Furinkan Military Academy would be a good school." she suggested.

Madoka looked at her sharply. Furinkan Military Academy? That was the best school for aspiring military officers. She wanted to send her there? Impossible. She can't possibly arrange THAT.

"Onraku Academy." She said, deciding to humor her as the words of a young man from that morning came to mind.

Madoka was sure that she would come up with some kind of excuse to politely reject it. As a result, what the officer next said came as a surprise for everyone in the room.

"Onraku Academy is one of the premiere schools for the Arts. May I ask which arts subject you would like to major in?"

Caught off guard by her question, Madoka automatically said, "Music."

"Good, now we're getting somewhere. I will arrange for your transfer." Kiyone was glad that things were finally progressing.

"Ozora-san," one of the teachers exploded. "surely you can't be serious. Sending a delinquent like HER to an institution like Onraku." The other teachers expressed the same sentiment.

"Why not?" she asked them. "Ayukawa-san's grades qualify her for that school. She WILL be tested for her musical aptitude beforehand, of course." She remarked to Madoka. "If she passes, I see no reason why she can't go there."

The teacher sputtered at that. Miss Ozora turned back to Madoka. "You can go back to class now. I will inform you later regarding your posting to Onraku."

It was a disbelieving Madoka that headed for classes. That officer was probably just playing with her. She would probably later apologize for getting her hopes up and try to put her into another school. SHE was not going to get her hopes up.

Kyousuke Kasuga had never really liked school. This of course, might have had something to do with the fact that he had to suffer being in the same class as those two perverts, Konatsu and Hatta. Those two had never left him in peace. If it wasn't trying to get him to do something perverted, then it was trying to make a move on his sisters.

This time, he had another reason to dislike school. After being dragged here by the redhead, whose name he learned was Minami (although not without getting a kick to the shins). He had found himself in a strange school where he did not recognize a single person. He had had to find his own classroom without having to resort to asking. That of course, meant peeking into his school bag with his X-ray vision to find out what class he belonged to, and then running around the school to find said class. And all this before the bell rang.

Now, he was in hell. His first class had been homeroom, giving him some time to acclimatize to the foreign world, but the second turned out to be Phys Ed.

Since the beginning of the year, he had started to work out and improve his conditioning, with the encouragement of Ayukawa. However, his improved stamina was still woefully inadequate when it came to the torture session that the school here called Phys Ed. Huffing and puffing, he made his circuits while watching almost everyone else lap him, some of them even three or four times.

The only thing going for him thus far was the way the teacher in charge seemed not to be too irritated by his slowness. He assumed that his counterpart was just as weak as he.

Much later, as he walked out the school gates, Kyousuke reflected on his first day at this foreign school. He decided that things could have been much worse.

Mercifully, the teacher had allowed him some time during the self-defense lessons to rest. He had sat quietly at the side while the rest of the class paired off and fought.

This gave him some time catch his breath again, which he swore he left behind him on his tenth round around the track. Besides, he thought to himself as he watched the other students inflicting bruises on each other, the fighting looked really painful. He had no doubts about his ability at hand to hand combat. Without his Power, he would be beaten to pulp in mere seconds.

The rest of the day had gone off without a hitch, much to his relief. Mathematics and Science weren't any different. Thank God that the laws of physics don't change in parallel worlds.

Japanese was Japanese, so no problems turned up there. The class where he had broken into cold sweat was the one called Imperial History. He had had no idea what the teacher was talking about as he droned on about the early forties.

Discreet reading in his history textbooks had, much to his surprise, revealed that World Wars One and Two never occurred. In fact, much of what he had learned as modern history never happened either.

Since he had no power to read minds and search for answers he did not know, Kyousuke was overjoyed that not once did the history teacher, or for that matter ANY teacher, called him up during class.

The only thing about classes that had bothered him was the ideological message that was part of all the classes. Apparently, Japan was the founder of a huge Empire in this world, controlling much of Asia and parts of North America.

Other than that, he reflected, lunch break had been the only other worry. He had feared that some of 'his' friends would come up to him, start a conversation, and, as a result discover him.

This proved to be unfounded. He had been left pretty much alone the whole time.

Even the girl whose photo stood on his desk had not paid him any attention. He had cringed as she passed him in the hall, but she had taken no notice of him. *My counterpart must be a secret admirer of her then* Kyousuke guessed, and paid no further attention to the girl the rest of the day.

Still, from the reactions of the other students, if he didn't know any better, he would think that he had no friends at school. That made things definitely a lot easier for him but he couldn't help but wonder how his counterpart dealt with it.

SLAM The door to the Mano house threatened to fall from it's frame as the sound announced the return of the 109th Devil Hunter.

*How dare that jerk!* Yohko fumed. *How dare he act as though I didn't exist!* SHE was the one who was supposed to be ignoring him, not the other way round. Did he think she wouldn't notice his absence?

She had been at her normal spot that morning, but did he ever turn up? No. The rest of the day had been similar. The one time she had passed him in the hall, he had actually skirted around her, then walked past without even a glance back at her. And when school ended, he had practically run out of school, leaving her behind. Alone. Who in the Nine Hells did he think he was, anyway?

And then, to add insult to injury, Minami had informed her that he had come to school riding with that biker, Madoka. And she was about to forgive him for eyeing that biker girl in the disco. *Well, he can forget about getting my forgiveness any time soon.* Yohko entered the training hall in the Mano home and changed into her workout outfit.

With a bokken in hand, she stepped up to the training dummy, an overgrown figure meant to represent a demon, and began her daily workout. As she went from the simple routines to the complex, the blows started to fall harder and harder. Yohko had stopped focusing on the routines long ago, letting instinct take over. Instead, she pictured the dummy to be Kyousuke and imagined that she was beating the stuffing out of him.

An indeterminate time and numerous angry strikes later, fatigue started to win over her anger. With a final swing that would have decapitated the dummy if she been using a real sword, Yohko decided to end her practice for the day.

Turning to leave, she was taken by surprise by the bokken thrust to her stomach. Before she could recover, or even recognize her attacker, an uppercut sent her reeling. This was followed by a kick that sent her bokken out of her hand. A short glimpse of her grandmother was all she saw before she received a painful blow to the side of her head that dropped her to the ground.

"And what pray tell was that?" Madoka Mano watched on displeased as her granddaughter pulled herself off the ground.

"Is this any way for a Devil Hunter to act? If I were a demon, you would be dead right now." Yohko winced at the upcoming lecture.

"I have been standing in this dojo watching you perform that lousy excuse for swordplay for at least ten seconds. I even waited for you to stop before attacking you. And what happened? You didn't even last ten seconds." The elder Mano shouted at her granddaughter and started to pace before her.

"What did I do wrong in your upbringing?" she began to wail. Yohko on the other hand, flushed as she recognized the upcoming speech. "Why when your mother was your age..."

Yohko already knew this speech by heart. Whenever her performance was below the expectations of the slavemaster before her, her grandmother would always mention her mother. How she could already perform this maneuver when Yohko just started learning it, how she could have taken out this or that demon so much quicker and more efficiently, or how she could have identified the different types of demons and been aware of their strengths and weaknesses. No matter what she did or achieved, her late mother was always much better than her. Times like these, she wondered why she became a Devil Hunter.

Wait, the speech was ending. That meant the obligatory guilt trip that always followed. Her reminder why she had become a Devil Hunter.

"..how do you expect to take over your mother's duties if you keep showing this sort of performance? The demons would eat you alive. How am I to face your mother in the heavens then?" the speech came to an end and Madoka Mano came to a halt before Yohko.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" she looked her granddaughter in the eye.

Head turned down, Yohko replied steadily. "I'm sorry. I will do better next time."

Madoka's features softened as she regarded her granddaughter. "I know I'm not exactly the easiest of taskmasters. I just don't want to lose you the way I lost your mother."

Yohko looked back at her grandmother. "Yes, grandma. I guess I really was distracted today. I promise to concentrate better next time."

"Good," the 107th Devil Hunter of the Mano clan nodded. "then come tell your grandmother what was bothering you. Let's see if this old fogey can help."

Yohko hesitated. She knew how her grandmother thought about Kyousuke. While she did not forbid her outright from meeting him, she definitely was less than pleased about their relationship. The 'official' reason for it was that she should not lose her virginity on a casual affair. A Devil Hunter's mystic powers were stronger when she was a virgin. As the latest Devil Hunter responsible for protecting the Empire from the demon realms, it would be a dereliction of duty for her to carelessly throw away any advantage she possessed just for a moments pleasure. Her first time should be only after marriage, and even then, only when the omens had indicated that it was time for the next generation to be born.

She suspected that the real reason had something to do with the fact that Kyousuke was part of the Mobius Institute, and the grandson of the current Director, no less. She never did find out the reasons behind her grandmother's feud with him.

On the other hand, Kyousuke WAS the first boyfriend she had who had survived and stayed by her side for more than three months.

Knowing her granddaughter, Madoka guessed immediately what was on her mind. Sighing in defeat, she shook her head. "Fine, fine. I know it's about him. I won't say anything. We've been through this before."

Yohko smiled in relief. "Thanks grandma, I promise it won't affect my performance."

"Good, good. Then you wouldn't mind repeating that session." Yohko opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. Satisfied, Madoka Mano left the training hall from which the sounds of bokken strikes could be heard once more.

Kyousuke stepped hesitantly into the ABCB. Was it his imagination, or did the level of noise drop? Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Shaking such thoughts from his head, he walked in.

After school had ended, he had simply walked around. Lady Luck had spared him from going to the Mobius Institute that morning. He was not going to push it by going home and have someone his counterpart knew call or visit.

On the streets, he had encountered what had initially appeared to be a strange reaction by the people around him. Wherever he went, the crowds would automatically part, giving him a wide berth. It had confused him for a while. Then he remembered Ayukawa's reaction. Wearing his uniform with the Mobius Institute's insignia pin, he was easily identified as an Esper. And that fact inspired a degree of fear in them.

In fact, now that he thought about it, the other students in school had reacted the same way, albeit with a greater amount of subtlety. Probably because they were familiar with his being an Esper. Hehad missed it because he had been too busy worrying about being discovered**. **

Spotting Ayukawa sitting at the table in the corner, he made his way to her. As he walked over, he looked around the ABCB, unconsciously comparing it with the one he knew. Here, unlike the other places he had seen, the differences from his home dimension were less obvious. A missing picture here, a replaced drawing there. The furniture was the same and the Master was also there behind the counter, eyeing him carefully as he dried a glass.

"Hello." He greeted her with a smile. "Been waiting long?" he asked, as he sat down on a stool next to her.

Madoka shook her head. Unlike him, she had found time to change out of her uniform. She now wore a plain blouse with a skirt. "No," she replied coolly, hiding her nervousness at being together with an Esper. "I just got here myself."

"Have you already ordered?"

"No, not yet."

Kyousuke picked up the menu from the table. A quick glance showed that it was the same as the one he was familiar with. He offered it to Ayukawa, who accepted it.

"Don't you want to see the menu?" she asked him, not knowing that he knew the menu by heart.

Recovering quickly, Kyousuke answered. "I'll have whatever you recommend. You come here often, right?"

Madoka nodded slowly, saying, "I work here part-time."

"You work here part-time?" Kyousuke tried to sound surprised. "Then you'll know the dishes here. I'll let you order." Mentally, he kicked himself. He wasn't supposed to have been here before.

"Okay." Madoka acknowledged, "you're the one who's paying." Calling the waiter, she promptly ordered some of the ABCB's best dishes. In the meantime, Kyousuke tried to relax after a harrowing day. Not an easy thing to do when you saw that the waiter was doing his best not to stare and get away from you at the same time.

While waiting for their orders to come, Kyousuke decided to find out more about Ayukawa and this world he had come to from a teen's perspective. The only students in school who did not shun him as discreetly as they could had been the Minami girl, who was also from the so-called Mobius Institute.

"So, how was your day? I hope you weren't late because of me." He started on a friendly note, going over some safe ground.

"It was okay." Madoka shrugged, being her reticent self. "I wasn't any later than usual." Then, in a rare display of openness, she added. "I followed your advice and applied to a music school. I'm having a tryout on Thursday." How Ozora-san had, with the help of one of her more sympathetic teachers, managed to pull it off, she did not know, but she would be having an audition at the premier Arts school in the land. Even though a delinquent like her had no chance of being accepted by such a high-class school, she was grateful for the effort Ozora-san and Shimitsu-san, her household managing teacher, had put in on her behalf.

Even though he hoped that he would be home by then, Kyousuke couldn't help but say, "I'll be sure to go and listen to you perform." Realizing how forward that was, he quickly added, "If you want me to that is." If he had not returned back by then, he badly wanted to hear Ayukawa's wonderful voice again. He had only heard it once at the Talent Caravan and was already addicted.

Madoka had no idea what to say. Part of her wanted him to be there to support her, but another did not want him to see her fail. "Why not? The more the merrier. It will be at the Onraku Academy at three in the afternoon." She finally said.

Kyousuke continued to fish for information. With great difficulty, he managed to get Ayukawa to talk about herself. After some time and much persistence, Madoka began to open up.

He learned that, in this world, Ayukawa's parents were not the world-class musicians they were in his world. Instead, they belonged to the normal working-class and normally worked long hours. This resulted in them leaving her alone with her sister most of the time. In that much, she was similar to the Ayukawa he knew.

He was shocked, however, to learn that she was part of a biker gang. In fact, now that he had spent more time with her, he could see the differences more clearly.

The girl in front of him was a lot cooler. She was more likely to use violence to solve her problems than to talk. In all the time he had known his Ayukawa, she had always avoided the subject of her shady past. From what he had heard so far, it seemed to him that fighting was a major source of pride for the Ayukawa sitting before him.

For his part, he decided to tell her about the real him, instead of the Kyousuke from this world. This might be a little risky since there might be certain facts that would clash with this world, but then he would not have to worry about having to make up things based on what little he knew of his counterpart and to remember those lies. There was only one thing he carefully left out. That was the fact that his mother was dead in his world. Since he knew that she was alive in this world, it would raise too many questions if they were to later meet. Not that he had any intention of letting THAT happen.

Madoka was quite surprised at Kyousuke's description of his own life. She had always (and correctly) thought that all Espers lived quasi apart from normal society. But from her conversation with him, one could almost think that they were normal people with only a few extra talents. Well, maybe not completely normal. Normal people would never have the courage to approach her, much less invite her out.

A short pause came when their food arrived. To his surprise, Master himself had come to serve the food. As he did so, he eyed Kyousuke carefully. He did not say a single word.

After he had left, they went back to the conversation. They went on to talk about some normal subjects such as what teenagers here do and a little about the news. Kyousuke did his best to contribute, talking about his own activities, hoping that they would not appear strange. As for news topics, he was a totally passive participant. All he knew about the happenings in this world were what he had learned since that morning. If Ayukawa thought anything was strange, she certainly did not show it.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Kasuga-kun?" Madoka asked all of a sudden after they had finished their meal, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop them. Why had she asked him THAT?

Kyousuke choked on his coffee as he heard the question, the drink suddenly going down the wrong opening. What was it about Ayukawa's, he wondered. They seem to have this almost magical ability to say things that would shock him at the most inappropriate times.

After getting his coughing under control, he answered her question. "Yes." He stated firmly. Although his indecisiveness still plagued him, he HAD learned, the hard way, from experience to be more decisive in certain areas. Besides, how was he to explain to Ayukawa that he had led an alternate version of her on?

"Oh." Madoka was a little disappointed, although she would never admit it, not even to herself. Instead, she switched to her normal cover tactic – hostility. With practiced ease, she changed her entire tone and posture. Her face took on an unfriendly expression that would make a glacier seem warm.

"And does she know that you invited me out?" Her tone made Kyousuke cringe, wondering what he had done wrong.

"No," he admitted. "She is currently," he thought of a way to tell her where his love was, "abroad. Far away from here." He finished, thinking to himself *Both in space and in time.*

"And you took the opportunity to invite another girl out a date?" Madoka asked suspiciously.

"A date?" Kyousuke blinked in surprise as he realized what caused her sudden mood shift. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized hastily, "I thought I just invited you out to apologize for this morning and to thank you for the ride." He clarified quickly to avoid any misunderstandings. "Believe me, I love my girlfriend very much and would never betray her."

Seeing how he acted, Madoka was mollified. She had just jumped to conclusions. She was not, however, about to apologize for it. "Humph. Next time don't be so vague about it," she said angrily.

Kyousuke just smiled self-consciously at that, thinking how much like his own Ayukawa that was. He never got to reply as they were interrupted.

"Madoka-san. Here you are. We've been looking all over for you." A girl with short blonde hair, wearing biker leathers, stood next to their table.

"Hik-, Hi" Kyousuke caught himself before he could blurt out her name. "Um, Ayukawa. Is this a friend of yours?"

Hikaru's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she saw who or rather what Madoka's friend was. Taking a step back from the table and pointedly not looking at his direction, she quickly said to Madoka. "Koryu wants us to meet tonight. Usual place, usual time." With that, she turned around and took off as fast as she could.

A short period of uncomfortable silence followed as both teenagers recovered from the encounter. "That... was Hikaru." She said finally. "She is a good friend of mine." Kyousuke nodded, having already known that.

"You must leave?" It was more a statement than a question. Madoka nodded and pushed her chair back. Already halfway out of her seat, she stopped and looked over at Kyousuke.

"It's okay. Go ahead," he said. "Like I said. This is my treat."

For the first time the whole evening, Madoka smiled. "Thanks." As she turned to leave, she felt Kyousuke grab hold of her hand.

"Look, I don't want to appear self-righteous, but I have to say this. You should not get into fights so much. Get out of the gang. It is for your own good. And take Hikaru with you. Neither of you belong there."

Breaking his hold, Madoka looked shortly at him with an unreadable expression. Then, without a word, she turned and left the cafe.

After paying the bill, Kyousuke also left ABCB and made his way 'home'.

Arriving 'home', Kyousuke sighed. He had hoped to have returned home by some form of accident by now. It looked as though his stay here would be longer than his previous ones. After establishing that 'his' mother had not returned home yet. Kyousuke decided to explore the house. He might as well acclimatize himself to this world if he had to stay for a while.

As far as he could tell, his counterpart and his mother lived alone. No signs of his father or his sisters could be found within the large house.

Well, he reasoned, that meant that his sisters did not exist in this reality. It was not exactly surprising since he had been in one where HE had not existed. But what about his father?

Despite searching the whole house, he could find no photos of his father or any of his works. Slowly, he came to the conclusion that his counterpart's father no longer lived with them. If his mother was anything like his father, that would mean that his father in this world was dead. They could be just divorced, but he doubted it.

He also discovered that there were a few empty rooms in the house. For example, Ayukawa's music room stood empty.

The master bedroom was utilitarian, he decided. A single bed, a closet, a desk and a dressing table. No decorations or memorabilia to reveal anything about the woman who lived here. Deciding against searching further, Kyousuke left the room quickly without touching anything.

Finally, he came back to his analog's room, where his adventure had started this morning. Here, he hoped to find out more about his counterpart. It should prove to be interesting. Not many people had the chance to see how an alternate version of themselves would turn out.

But first, he had to deal with schoolwork. Having checked his time table in school, he was aware that he had no classes the next day where special knowledge of this world was required. That meant he did not have to spend any unnecessary time studying. Homework in the other subjects he did without complaint. No point in getting his counterpart into any undue trouble when they returned to their proper places after all.

After that was done, he searched through his counterpart's belongings. They were, technically speaking, his. He told himself he was not intruding on the privacy of another person.

Some of it was personal. Like the love notes from a girl called Yohko and some photos of his analog together with the girl with twin braids. Kyousuke guessed that the girl had to be Yohko.

Yet, she had ignored him that afternoon. From past experience, Kyousuke knew that that could only mean one thing. His counterpart had done something wrong recently to make her angry at him. Well, he'd let the two of them deal with it. He had no intention of suffering from more relationship problems. For now, he would just avoid her like the plague.

The rest was pretty standard stuff. It was when he looked at the material dealing with the Mobius Institute that he hit the jackpot. The Institute, as he had guessed, taught 'gifted' children how to use their powers. A handbook among his counterpart's literature described how students of the Institute were to carry themselves. Included, as well, were laws dealing with the use of powers.

Most of those laws were common sense. No use of powers to harm another person. No use of powers for personal advancement. What appalled him was the leeway given 'in the line of duty' as the book put it. Agents of the Institute, as representatives of the Security Directorate, were actually given the legal power to use whatever means they deemed necessary to carry out their duties.

Kyousuke prayed fervently at this point that he returned to his world. The sooner the better. He was certain they would not be pleased to find out about him.

Putting the handbook aside, he looked further. In the desk, he found a file. In it was described the immersion program that his analog was participating in. It was a program aimed at improving relations between the Espers and the 'normals'. Kyousuke raised an eyebrow as he read this. He could not be sure, but from what he had seen so far, the program was a flop. He was glad that no one knew about his powers back home. Living so apart from society was very lonely.

The one thing that caught his eye within it was the paragraph detailing the practice of his Esper powers. According to it, he had the option of skipping lessons at the Imperial Academy in favor of practicing his Powers at the Institute. He could only do it for an allotted number of hours and had to inform the teachers at the Imperial Academy beforehand.

Fortunately for him, his counterpart had not exercised that option too much. Kyousuke smiled to himself as he thought of how many hours he could use that to stay away from school.

The top prize for Kyousuke were the books that his counterpart owned about the Power. Teleportation and telekinesis were old hats for him, but he considered reading them for greater insight anyway. What caught his eye though, were the ones about telepathy, and more importantly, mind shielding. These he started reading immediately. He could picture Kazuya's expression when, after his return home, the brat realized that he could not read his mind anymore.

End part 1


	2. Chapter 2

Temporal Thunder

This is a side story of S. Thesken's Quantum Destinies fanfic. All characters within are owned by their creators. Quantum Destinies was created by S. Thesken.

Standard Disclaimers: All characters herein belong to their respective creators no matter how much I wish I owned them.

Thanks to my prereaders S. Thesken and DB Sommer

Note: This story is based on the Manga. Certain things happened differently compared to the TV and OVA series. It takes place almost at the end. Everything has been revealed. Madoka has left for the States and Kyousuke has broken up with Hikaru and is waiting for Madoka to return and tell him her feelings.

Part 2

Morning came quickly for the misplaced Esper. Cracking open his eyes, Kyousuke woke up to the room where he had gone to bed.

*Looks like yesterday wasn't a dream.* he moaned to himself as he climbed out of the bed. It was not fair. He had never been so long in a parallel world before.

Worst of all, he had no way of getting help. All Espers belonged to this Mobius Institute, especially those of his family. According to what he had read last night, the Kasugas had helped found the Mobius Institute. From what he had seen so far, the fear from the man on the street and the duties of Espers from the handbook, the Mobius Institute was the very thing HIS grandfather had warned him against, the use of Espers as weapons.

Right now, he had only two options. To go research how to get home in the libraries of the Institute or to keep up the pretense. The first option meant that he might get home quicker, if he could find the information he needed, but also carried a higher degree of risk of being discovered.

If he chose the second, he would have to wait for some random event to kick his powers in, or even better, for his grandfather to come and rescue him, but the chance of being discovered was significantly lower. After the first day, his worries about being discovered at school had washed away.

Other than perhaps the other two Mobius Institute students here, the rest of the student body left him alone. Only when spoken to, or ordered by a teacher, would they speak to him. And since those two other students from the Mobius Institute were one grade lower than him, it was easy to avoid them. They could catch maybe a short glimpse of him between classes at best. So, as long as he did nothing out of the ordinary, he could pretty much move around unmolested.

Faced with these choices, he opted for the latter.

As for his counterpart, if he can live in this kind of environment, then he ought to have no problems surviving in his world. He hoped that his sisters did not manhandle him too much though. He knew from first-hand experience what a violent maniac his sister, Kurumi, was.

Thus started Kyousuke's second day in the world of the Empire of Japan.

Entering the kitchen, Kyousuke found 'his' mother laying out the dishes.

"Good," approval showed on her face, "you're already up. Sit down and have your breakfast."

"Yes, mother." Kyousuke replied and started into the cereal before him.

"Are you ready for your test today?" she asked as they ate.

"Test?" Uh oh. He was a dead man.

Akemi looked at him with a serious expression. "Yes, your psychic powers test this afternoon."

"Psychic powers test? At the Mobius Institute?" Kyousuke blurted out.

"Yes, you haven't forgotten about it, did you?" Akemi asked even though she already knew the answer. Her son was hopeless at times.

"Ah..."

Akemi decided to forestall any excuses her son would come up with. "Your powers test is this afternoon at one in room P420. Don't be late. Agent Mu will be the examiner. I expect you to pass."

Kyousuke took note of this information carefully and winced. He had been hoping to stay as far from that place as much as possible. Now it looked as though he had no choice in the matter.

Mistaking his grimace for fear at being tested personally by a Master Telekinetic, she continued with her instructions. "And just in case you've also forgotten about it. There will be a ball at Lord Hayakawa's tomorrow evening. Make sure you come back early to change."

"Yes, mother." Kyousuke responded weakly.

Satisfied, Agent Akemi Kasuga returned to her breakfast.

"What is this about, Kanoe?" Director Kasuga directed his question at the statuesque woman with long dark hair in front of him. Kanoe Unmei was the section leader of the Northern Dragons, a special group of psychics and mystics who took 'discrete' actions against enemies of the Empire, but were too prominent or powerful to remove through normal channels. She was known to be cold, intelligent and utterly ruthless leader. Her skills in administration were excellent, orchestrating operations with deadly precision.

She would have had an excellent chance of succeeding him as the Director of the Mobius Institute one day were it not for the fact that she possessed only limited supernatural power. She only had the limited psychic ability to enter the dreams of others. The Director of the Mobius Institute was expected to be able to defend him- or herself against any mental or mystical attacks.

"Something has come to my attention that I thought you should be informed of, sir."

"What is it?" Director Kasuga felt a flicker of concern. Her normal modus operandi when something came to her attention was to investigate the matter herself, activate her own section to deal with it, if necessary, and then give him the after action report. If she had not shown that she possessed the necessary judgement to act independently, he would have had her removed long ago. It had to be serious indeed for her to find it necessary to inform him in advance.

"As you know, recent attempts at reading the future has been frustrating at best due to the high level of flux in the timestream. Even Hinoto has found it difficult to see any clear details." Director Kasuga nodded. Her sister was the most powerful psychic among the Sentinels and the second most powerful psychic in the Institute. whose main duty lay in scanning the future and giving warnings of any disasters, natural, artificial or supernatural. A secondary duty they did was to inform the ruling class of the effects of the policies that they implement. A job that recent developments made almost impossible.

"With the notable exception of the 'Artist'," Kanoe referred to the most powerful psychic in the Institute. Before they had rescued Setsuna Meiou from the clutches of the Ministry of Science, they had performed experiments on her to amplify her powers of foresight. Unfortunately, those experiments had succeeded too well. Increased to a level no human mind could cope with, Setsuna no longer lived in the present. Instead, her mind saw only the chaotic whirls of the time stream, living in the worlds what might be.

Her only means of communicating what she saw with the real world was through the drawings she made, hence her code name.

"None of our other psychics have not foreseen any major disasters in the future which is why I found what I saw two nights ago so disturbing."

"I had been using my powers to walk through the dreamscapes of the various Seers, looking for details that might escape their notice otherwise when I accidentally came across this foresight dream of an unknown psychic." Director Kasuga's eyebrow was raised. The Institute knew every single psychic in Tokyo.

"I wasn't able to get a good look for some reason. I'm sure it was not due to any shielding on the part of the psychic though. My sight was just somehow... distorted." A little irritation slipped into her voice. It was her forte to observe such dreams, but this one had simply stumped her. "All I managed to get was that sometime in the future, a demon, of name level, will turn up somewhere in Tokyo."

"You could not identify it?" Director Kasuga was alarmed. The Institute ranked all supernatural beings by power levels. From the harmless level zero wandering spirits who could not affect even the weak willed, to the mighty level eight demons capable of wiping out a small town. Depending on the power level of the demon or spirit, the Institute would send out an appropriate response team.

Name level demons, however, were unique individuals that normally possessed power beyond those of normal demons. They all had some special ability, invulnerability or skill that gave it it's notoriety. The damage such a demon could do in the Empire's capital was unthinkable.

"No, the vague details that I could make out do not fit any of the demons in our records." Kanoe answered in a flat tone. "I have not been able to find this dream again. The few psychics I asked to try to find the same future haven't had any success so far."

"I see." There was no need to ask her how reliable she thought the dream was. She would not be here if she did not think it would not come true. After a moment's pondering, he decided on a course of action. He could not put the entire Institute on emergency alert on account of a blurry precognition dream from an unknown psychic. They did not even know when it would become reality.

"Stay on it. Track down this psychic and find out what he or she knows. Stopping this demon receives highest priority. I will send you any information that might be relevant."

"Yes, sir." Kanoe saluted him before she strode out of the office.

With great care not to stand out, Kyousuke walked the hallways of the Mobius Institute. The place was HUGE. From outside, it may be a drab, low building but inside, inside was a large complex that extended deep, deep under the surface.

He had left the Imperial Academy immediately after lunch, thinking that he would need time to find the room where he was to take the test. Now he was glad that he did so. One could easily get lost in these twisting corridors.

Walking through the complex, he saw the way the people here walked about with military brusqueness. To his surprise, the proportion of adults to students seemed to be almost equal.

Once in a while, someone would pause for a while and greet him. He would then return the greeting and move off before they could stop him. To his fortune, no one has wanted to chat so far.

Finally, after getting lost a few times and with only minutes to spare, he arrived at room P420. Taking a deep breathe to calm himself, he knocked on the door before opening it.

The room he entered was more a hall than a room. Twenty meters long, ten meters wide and three meters tall, several numbered circles were drawn into the floor. Along the far wall, various objects were lined along a shelf just above the reach of any normal person.

Near the door stood a simple wooden table where two persons were seated. The first was a man of Indian descent with light purple hair. Two round markings could be seen on his forehead. The second was an old man who was dressed in Chinese-styled clothing as opposed to the dark gray uniform worn by the other.

Terrific, now how was he supposed to tell who Agent Mu was?

"Come forward, Cadet Kasuga." The first one ordered in a soft tone without turning to him.

Hesitantly, Kyousuke approached the pair, doing his best to ignore the scrutiny of the old man. When he was near the table, the young man stood up and faced Kyousuke.

"Master Dohko will be observing your test." He gestured at his partner.

"Yes, Agent Mu." Well that question was answered.

"Are you ready for your test?" he asked gently. "We want to make sure your powers are not slipping from disuse."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be I guess." Kyousuke replied nervously.

Ignoring his casual tone, Mu proceeded to start the test.

"Then let us begin." Pointing to shelf he gave his first instructions. "Use your power and bring the blue ball to your hand."

Calling upon his powers, Kyousuke obliged. Holding his hand before him, he teleported the small ball across the room into his hand instantly.

Giving him only a slightly curious look, Mu went on to the next task.

"Good," he nodded, "now send the ball back and bring it here TELEKINETICALLY."

Swallowing nervously, Kyousuke complied.

Yohko Mano was not in a good mood. Woe to a certain Esper if she were to run into him today. How dare he! Not only had he been ignoring her, according to Minami, he had actually accepted a ride from that biker slut the previous morning. The slut who he had stared at back at the disco some time back.

Then to add salt to injury, some of her friends had seen him going out with her that same evening. She had had to endure the rumors of their break-up all day. All of a sudden, she understood exactly how her boss, Nabiki felt when she had informed her of the Tenjou girl staying at the Saotome residence.

Worst of all, she had no chance to interrogate Kyousuke about it., the coward having fled to the Mobius Institute early during lunch. Now, as she was stomping her way home. She really needed a session in the training hall to work off her anger.

Turning a corner into a quiet street, she came face to face with five bikers. Their motorbikes parked by the roadside, they were leaning against a wall talking amongst themselves. Other than the small group, there was no one present.

Upon spotting her, the bikers stopped their conversation and started in her direction.

*Parasites.* Yohko regarded them with nothing but contempt. Normally, she would not even bother with this kind of low-life and just walk away. However, her current mood, and the fact that they were scum like that girl Kyousuke was seeing behind her back, affected her judgement.

"Oh my," she stopped as two of the bikers put themselves in her path, "are you boys looking for a fight? Well, I'm not. Get out of my way or else," she snarled, observing the other three circle her.

The bikers exchanged a look of confusion. This was supposed to be the girl they were sent after? The one that was supposed to be a calm, cautious fighter? This hostile female before them somehow did not fit that image. Still, orders were orders and they prepared to attack her.

Seeing them change into, to her trained eye, clumsy fighting stances, Yohko did something totally out of character. Rather than awaiting movement on her opponents' part to judge their abilities, she attacked full out. Lashing out with one leg, she snap kicked the biker to her left. This was followed up by a palm strike which sent him into slumber land.

This was normally against her fighting style. Trained to battle demons and their ilk, such a move was dangerous, not to mention potentially fatal. When one's opponent possessed supernatural strength and speed, only a single error was necessary to end the fight. Thus, she had been taught never to commit herself fully to an attack.

The unexpected assault gave Yohko only a short moment's advantage. Gathering their wits, the remaining four bikers moved against her in concert. Blocking a blow from the right, Yohko swung her bag into the face of an attacker coming from the side. A blow from behind made her stagger, and she replied with a backward kick. Rolling with the next punch, she brought her knee up into the groin of her attacker.

Pulling his body close, she used him as a human shield against the blows of his friends. Dropping the now unconscious biker, she sent another spinning away with a thrown schoolbag. For a moment, Yohko allowed herself a smile of irony as she observed the effectiveness of the frequently-cursed load.

The remaining two backed off a bit, regarding her now with a bit more caution. This was not how they had expected the fight to go. Still, they outnumbered the bitch two to one, a quick glance showed that it was three to one now that the one brained by the schoolbag had recovered. They could finish their assignment. With greater care, they engaged her once more.

Three to one odds were not very fair. Especially when the lone fighter was a pissed off Devil Hunter. So, a few minutes later, it was a slightly bruised Yohko that walked away, leaving five unconscious bodies behind. Cursing them for dirtying her uniform, she hurried home. She would have to use her healing abilities to hide the signs of the fight. It would not be good to let her grandmother find out about this.

After that, she decided that she had an appointment with a certain Esper. Kyousuke had better have a good explanation. Or else.

An hour later, a psychically-drained Esper was dismissed from the examination room. To his relief, Agent Mu not only passed him, he gave him a high score. The only cloud that marred the otherwise successful test had been when Master Dohko commented how much better he could have done.

Kyousuke hoped he had not done anything to reveal himself. He had been very careful not to exhibit any powers he was not supposed to have.

Kyousuke now headed for the exit as quickly as possible. With some luck, he would make it out without being stopped.

People who knew him, however, would know that the words luck and Kyousuke Kasuga are contradicting terms. Halfway out of the underground maze, Kyousuke found himself suddenly pulled into an empty room filled with strange writings on the walls by a young girl.

"Kyousuke-sempai," she said timidly as soon as the door was shut, "I heard that you're going out with Yohko Mano."

"Er... yes, that's right." Kyousuke replied warily.

Gathering her courage, Azusa Kanzaki slowly put forth her request. "I was wondering.. could you put in a good word for me by Yohko-san? I'll be eternally grateful if you can convince her to take me as an apprentice." She clapped her hands together before her and bowed to Kyousuke.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" asked Kyousuke slowly.

An expression of discomfort appeared on her face. "I already have. Her grandmother said no. She said that I already belong to the Mobius Institute. I can't be a Devil Hunter because of that. But if Yohko-san says she wants me, then I'll have a chance. Pleease, Kyousuke-sempai."

*A Devil Hunter? Why don't I like the sound of that.* Kyousuke thought. Out loud, he asked, "Why do you want to be a Devil Hunter?"

Suddenly finding the floor very interesting, Azusa replied in a low voice. "I've always dreamed of becoming one. My grandmother is an old friend of the Mano's. When I was little, she used to tell me stories about how they fought demons and goblins. Since then I've always wanted to become a Devil Hunter." She looked up at Kyousuke.

"I'm no good at weaving spells, you know that." Azusa's eyes began to tear. "I'm called Jinx because my spells don't always work the way they're supposed to. Sometimes they just go wild for no reason. Nobody has ever gotten hurt, but everyone's getting tired of the wild surges. I don't want to be declared a magical hazard. You know what would happen to me then."

Kyousuke did not know. Nevertheless, seeing how distraught she was, he put his hands on her shoulders. In his experience as a big brother, he knew it helped a lot. "Come on, don't cry. Look, I'll talk to..." he stumbled over the name, "Yohko about it, but don't expect too much."

"Thank you." Azusa said happily as she wiped away a tear and then hugged him spontaneously. "I'm sure you can do it, Sempai. You're the best." she murmured.

"Uh. hehehe," Kyousuke laughed nervously. This situation brought back memories. This girl did not squeeze as hard and enthusiastically as Hikaru though.

Slowly, Azusa released him and stepped back. "You'll see, Sempai," She gave him a smile. "I, Azusa Kanzaki, will prove to everyone that I am worthy of being a Devil Hunter trainee. I've already studied all about demons. I can recognize all the various types. I even know all their strengths and weaknesses. And I can wield the staff very well. I won't disappoint you," she promised and then left him alone in the room, wondering how he kept getting into such messes.

It was with relief that Kyousuke made his way home from the Institute. It had been a long day. How long did he have to keep up this charade anyway? Hopefully before the function tomorrow evening.

Turning the final corner onto the street, he saw a familiar girl standing a stone's throw from the house. There could be no question as to who Yohko Mano was waiting for.

Having spotted him, she immediately left her post and headed for him. From the look on her face, it was clear that she wanted to have a 'talk', and that he was not going to enjoy it. Strangely enough, although she looked angrier and fiercer than Ayukawa ever did, he did not feel the same level of apprehension as when Ayukawa was mad at him.

"Yohko," he tried to head off the storm. Any meteorologist however, could have told him that it was impossible to stop or divert a storm.

"Don't 'Yohko' me you two-timing jerk," Yohko poked him hard to emphasize her words. If looks could kill, he would be lucky if there was enough left of him to put in an urn. "How dare you go after other girls behind my back," she accused. "You were seen going out on a date with that biker bitch and Minami told me about the lift you got from her. How long did you think you could keep me in the dark? Well?"

Kyousuke was well aware that he had screwed up majorly. Why did these things keep happening to him? One small dinner and he had put his counterpart's love life in serious jeopardy.

"Listen, Yohko. It wasn't a date. Really. I just met her that morning. I was running late, and she gave me a lift. I brought her out to dinner as a show of thanks. There's nothing between her and me." Kyousuke defended himself.

Yohko's brow twitched as she heard it. "You don't really expect me to swallow that, do you? Offering an Esper a lift on the first meeting. That must be the lamest excuse I've ever heard."

Damn, and she had really thought that they could have a relationship. Since he was an Esper, she would not have had her normal boy problems with him. Being used to the supernatural, she did not have to fear that he would be scared off by the demons and such in her life. And, as a member of the Mobius Institute, the chances that a demon could possess him to get close to her were virtually nil, considering how often and thoroughly they keep tabs on their own people.

She ignored his further protests of innocence. "Forget it," she snarled, "I don't want to hear any excuses. You're going to break up with that girl. Then, once I'm convinced you really want me, I'll consider speaking with you again. So you better make good use of this chance. If I catch you cheating on me one more time..." She left the threat unspoken and stalked off without further ado, leaving a sputtering Kyousuke behind.

Kyousuke's shoulders slumped down as he watched her leave. Just great. So much for keeping a low profile. This was going to be just great for his cover. He didn't mind that she was not going to speak with him in the near future, but it also meant that she was going to keep that much closer of an eye on him.

Akemi Kasuga took another slow sip from her tea cup and leaned back into the couch, letting the accumulated stress from the day seep out of her body. It had been a LONG day. Amaterasu bless her son. Kyousuke might be a social dunce when it came to interacting with normals, especially those of the opposite sex, but he knew exactly when he should leave her in peace. Instead of joining her in the living room after dinner for their after dinner talk, he had disappeared hastily out of the house, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

She snorted. Of course, the fact that she had caught him by surprise, teleporting straight back to the house from the Institute in a blood-stained uniform, startling him from his seat in the living room, wasn't exactly a subtle hint as to what her mood was probably helped too.

The day had started out so well too. She had finally tracked down the rogue Esper who had been misusing his powers to rob and kill innocent Citizens.

The Kusanagi section, to which she belonged, had the primary task of bringing such criminals to justice. The Peaceforcers, and even the normal agents of the Security Directorate, were simply out of their league when the perpetrator was an Esper or magic-user abusing their kami-given, or in the rare case of the warlock – demon-given, powers to commit the crimes. Case in point, the rogue had been using telekinesis to kill his victims and then remove the valuables from their bodies. No direct contact was ever made between the killer and his victim. This made normal investigation techniques useless. Only someone familiar with mental or magical powers could have tracked him down.

Even then, it had been difficult. The rogue was surprisingly resourceful, striking at changing intervals at varied locations, constantly moving from one safe house to another, always looking out for signs of pursuit. It had taken her weeks of late night stakeouts, investigations and interrogations before she had a solid lead on him.

After she had cornered him, running from a teleporter is an exercise in futility, there had been a brief, but intense telekinetic contest between herself and the rogue. For a non-Institute trained Esper, the rogue had been surprisingly powerful, but in the end she had prevailed. The outcome could not have been otherwise.

She had left him in one of the special cells that negated the prisoner's psychic and mystic abilities in the bowels of the Institute. The Institute would decide later on his punishment.

Hunting down other paranormals was a dangerous job. Some of them try to turn the tables on their pursuer. The normally forbidding uniforms of the Security Directorate was even more pronounced in their cases. Specially warded gloves had to be worn to prevent leaving psychic traces to warn their quarry, but times like those, she was convinced of the necessity of her job. The public had to be protected from such threats they could not defend themselves against.

All in all a great, but slightly more taxing than usual morning. The day would not have been so bad had it not been for the afternoon. Already tired from the morning's activities, she had been looking forward to an afternoon of mindless bureaucracy, typing up her after action report when the call came in.

The Kasugas had always produced powerful Espers and she was no exception. Her possession of the rare and devastating combination of abilities - telekinesis and teleportation, had been one of the reasons why she had been seconded to the Kusanagi section. Unfortunately, it also meant that in emergencies, she was one of the first to be sent to ground zero.

Like this afternoon. A pair of the Institute's agents had gotten into a traffic accident. Instead of returning to the Institute's private medical facilities for treatment, they had gone to a hospital for normals to have their scrapes looked at. This breach of protocol had started a chain of events which led to her being called in.

Apparently, the pair had, while waiting to be discharged, discovered an unregistered Esper at the hospital. They found a young girl, who possessed the powers of healing, wandering through the corridors, using her powers unnoticed by the staff to help the sick.

Following standard procedure for discovering rogue Espers, they had begun to trail the young girl. They saw her reluctantly follow a nurse to one of the laboratories of the Science Ministry. Not knowing that the girl's mother was merely bringing her to visit her father, a scientist working there, they had feared the worst.

Even though the last incident had been some years ago, the horror stories about the experiments the researchers of the Science Ministry had done on Espers were still in circulation. They had immediately stormed the building to rescue the girl.

A fight had broken out between the agents and the guards at the facility, who were trying to stop what they thought were intruders. By the time Akemi had arrived to deal with the matter, there had already been fatalities, including the girl's mother who had died protecting her daughter from flying debris. Akemi had had to take out a few guards before she could stop the fighting.

It had taken her hours, a lot of diplomacy and the occasional veiled threat to smooth things over. Officially, the incident would be labeled as an accident in one of the laboratories. The telepaths she had called in made sure that anyone without the proper security clearance would only remember it as such.

After chewing out the agents responsible for the mess, she had arranged for the severely traumatized girl, whose name she learned was Hotaru Tomoe, to be sent to the Institute where trained psychologists/telepaths would help her get over the shock. It had been one of her more emotionally draining days.

It was a pretty sure bet that Hotaru would never see her parents again. Akemi let out a sad sigh. Chances were, that by the time the telepaths were finished, Hotaru would not even remember her real parents. Not that it would make much of a difference. Her mother was dead and her father would be hospitalized for quite some time.

Perhaps it was better this way, she mused. The memory of what had happened to them would only bring Hotaru unnecessary anguish. At any rate, what happened to Hotaru from now on was out of her hands. She only hoped that Hotaru's new foster family would take good care of her.

Lost in thought, Kyousuke wandered the streets aimlessly. Night had already fallen, and he was still here. His Power should have been fully charged by now.

After his run-in with his counterpart's girlfriend, the day had been pretty peaceful. He had replenished his body's energy stores and spent the rest of the evening looking through his counterpart's books on psychic powers to find a way to get home.

It had been interesting to read about the various theories about how his powers worked, as well as the many other forms of psychic powers. Unfortunately, the content was very limited. There was not even the smallest mention in there about the traveling between worlds or time travel, his other 'problem' power. The best he could infer, those powers of his were the so-called 'cosmic powers'. They could only be used when the Esper had achieved the state known as Nirvana, a state of perfect control of both mind and body, allowing him to call upon incredible amounts of psychic power.

That of course, would explain his previous experiences with these two powers. All those times, the adrenaline surge had, for the briefest of moments, put him into the state of Nirvana, activating his power.

For Kyousuke, this bit of information was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it meant that it was possible to gain control of his power. On the other, years of mental and physical training were necessary if one wanted to attain the state of Nirvana. If he wanted to use that method, it would be years before he returned home.

It also rendered the jumping down of stairs useless. If he was expecting the fall, he would not get an adrenaline surge that he needed. That was the reason why he was now walking down the streets. It was a long shot, but all he required was a near accident to give him the shock he needed.

Pulling up to the apartment building, the two bikers killed the engines. Pulling off her helmet, Madoka got off her motorcycle. Her companion also took off her helmet, but remained on her motorcycle.

"You'll be alright?" the slightly older girl asked roughly.

"Yes."

"What I said earlier isn't supposed to be a threat, Madoka. It was advice. You'll be making a mistake if you try to fit into that snob school. You're better off with us."

"Never took it as a threat, Marin. We've known each other too long for me to make such a mistake." Madoka waved her hand to emphasize her words.

"Good, and be careful," Marin warned. "Your accident yesterday might not have been an 'accident'. Those damned Espers could be looking to put their hooks into you."

"Damn," Marin cursed. "all this just had to happen now. When there is so much happening."

"Don't worry. Yesterday was just a coincidence. What could the Espers want from me?" Madoka reassured her boss and friend. "And stop thinking about my transfer to Onraku. There's no way I'm leaving the gang. Unless you kick me out, of course. I'm just going to the audition for my folks sake. Besides, it's not like I'll ever get accepted. If you need me, I'll be there. I've never let my friends down before. We'll teach all the other gangs who's in charge and become the top gang in Tokyo."

"Okay, then have a good night. I'm off." Marin smiled back at her. Setting her helmet back on, she kicked the engine to life and roared off into the night.

After locking up her bike, Madoka proceeded to go back to the apartment that the Ayukawa family called home. As she was about to enter the building, she was stopped short by the sight of a teenager.

"Kasuga-kun," she called to the Esper. What was he doing here? Did he know that she lived here? "What are you doing here?"

Madoka's call shook Kyousuke out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Ayukawa standing in the entrance to an apartment block. "Oh, Ayukawa." he answered, being just as surprised to see her. "I was just taking a walk." As he walked up to her, he did a double take. Somehow, he had unconsciously come to the Green Apartments, where his home was in his world.

"Really?" Madoka was feeling uneasy. Maybe her claim just now was incorrect.

"Uh-huh." He nodded, why should she doubt him? "And what about you?"

"I live here." Was her reply.

"You live HERE?" Kyousuke had an incredulous expression on his face. Somewhere out there, he was sure that there was a god who was laughing his head off.

Madoka examined Kyousuke carefully. It did not appear to her that he was acting. Still, better to be careful.

"I must go now. Is there anything you want?"

"No, no." Kyousuke realized why she was so suspicious. It must look like he was stalking her or something. "we'll see each other at your audition the day on Thursday then. Bye." He waved at her and made a hasty retreat.

Watching him leave, Madoka did not know what to think. Were their meetings purely coincidental? Or was someone planning all this?

In a warehouse somewhere, the leader of a biker group was voicing her displeasure at the defeat of her minions.

"There were FIVE of you against just ONE girl. How could she win?" she screamed at the five bikers who had attacked Yohko.

"It's not our fault." One of the bikers protested. "Your 'adviser' told us shit about her way of fighting."

"THAT'S IT?" the five cringed at the increase in volume. "That's your excuse? You lost because of THAT?" Words could not begin to describe her anger.

A cold laugh interrupted her tirade. Against their will, the bikers shivered at the sound.

"Jima," the leader forced herself to stop shaking and face the man who had stepped out of the shadows. "I would appreciate it if you would knock before coming in."

Turning to the kneeling bikers, she ordered. "Get out. I'll deal with you rejects later."

They scrambled to their feet quickly, only too glad to get away from the man who had just entered. He had an unnatural aura that made even the toughest biker tremble. Only their leader had the guts to stay in the same room as him for long.

The handsome advisor merely chuckled. "I did. It must have been drowned out by your screaming." Turning in the direction where the five bikers had fled, he let a bit of his displeasure show. "They failed?"

"It is only a temporary setback." She was quick to assure him. "It's only a matter of time before we get your ring."

"I hope so." he said in a low voice. "Don't forget. I promised to make your gang the most powerful here in exchange for getting the ring. Your recent successes have been MY work. If you fail, I can always go find another more capable gang. One more suited to power."

The leader felt her heart freeze at the threat. She had seen the results of his work. The other gangs had been defeated easily when he had led them into battle. She did not know how he did it, but, even outnumbered, her gang could thrash the other gangs. She did not want to find out how they would fare if he were against them.

"Like I said, you'll get your damn ring." She snapped. "Now leave."

"Very well." He gave her a smile that sent shivers running down her spine. "Just so you know the consequences." With that he stepped back into the shadows and vanished.

Getting her heart to slow back down, the leader briefly asked herself if it was worth it. She shook those questions immediately out of her head. So long as her gang gained control of all the gangs, she would even make a deal with the Devil.

With a start, Kyousuke woke up. After a few moments, he managed to get his breathing under control.

*The same nightmare again.* A sudden hope rose in his heart. A hope that was dashed quickly. Turning on the bedside lamp, he found himself still in the room of his counterpart.

Recalling the nightmare, he pondered on it. From the way it had felt, it might have been a premonition dream, or rather maybe a nightmare that was to come.

*Damn.* He thought. If that was a premonition dream, then he was going to have to encounter that demon in the near future. He normally did not believe in demons, but then if that demon was in his premonition dream...

He had learned long ago that no matter what he did, there was nothing he could do to avoid his visions. He could interpret them wrongly, but he could never escape them. This vision left no room for misinterpretation. If it really was a premonition dream, he WOULD run into the demon sometime soon.

This time however, it did not feel like his normal premonition dreams. Normally they were clear and intense. This one was slightly hazy, although the same intensity was there. Kyousuke did not know what to think. Hopefully, it meant that he was just a victim of his overactive imagination. The supernatural could not possibly exist.

There was also what the girl Azusa had said to consider, too. She said she wanted to become a Devil Hunter. That definitely raised the possibility of the existence of demons. After all, if she was part of this Mobius Institute, which to him was more an Esper KGB, she could not be delusional.

Looking at the bedside clock, he decided to get out of bed. It was still a little early, but there was no point in returning to sleep.

Kyousuke thought about his current situation. What should he do? If that was a premonition dream, he would be a fool not to take precautions. But, if it was not, and he went to his 'mother' about it, he would be drawing the noose around his own neck.

Unless... the Azusa girl. She said that she had studied about all the types of demons. He could ask her if the demon he 'saw' in his dreams was real or not. If it was just a figment of his imagination, then he could just drop the subject. If it was real, then he had a source of information which he could use.

That meant he would have to chance going to the Mobius Institute again, but the risk would be acceptable. He had been there once already yesterday and nothing had happened. All he had to do was avoid contact with strangers and everything would be fine.

Walking through the corridors of the Mobius Institute once again, Kyousuke was relieved to find the place to be mostly empty. Only the occasional student was around. Lesson times must be very lax, he decided.

He had come especially early to look for Azusa. He had hoped to just find her, ask his questions and then get out to the safety of the Imperial Academy. Now it looked like she was not even here.

A sign on the wall indicated the direction of the library. Deciding that since he was already there, he might as well make use of the time while he waited for her to arrive. Besides, the library made a safe hiding place from the other students and adults.

Entering the library, he was pleasantly surprised to find the person he had been looking for. Sitting in a corner of the otherwise empty library, she was listening to a CD player with a book before her.

Going up to the girl, he was surprised to find her humming the tune to 'Giri Giri Love', one of Mitsuru Hayakawa's hit songs while reading a manga. He tapped her on the shoulder on the shoulder to get her attention.

Startled, Azusa jumped out of her seat and turned around guiltily. She immediately hid the manga behind her back and tore the headphones out of her ears.

Seeing that it was only Kyousuke, she was relieved. He would not report her for listening to pop music and reading manga. If one of the staff had caught her, she would have been in real trouble. It was generally frowned upon to be engaging in such mindless, decadent pursuits.

"Kasuga-sempai. Don't scare me like that." She placed a hand on her chest.

"Sorry, but I have to talk to you." Kyosuke's expression was serious.

"Is it about my becoming Yohko-san's apprentice? Did she say no?" Azusa asked, worried what the answer would be.

"Er, no, I haven't had the chance to speak to her yet." Kyousuke replied. "That's not what I want to talk to you about."

Azusa was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Knowing that she still had the chance to become a Devil Hunter, she relaxed a bit.

Checking to make sure that no one else was around, Kyousuke continued. "You told me yesterday that you're an expert where demons are concerned, right?"

Azusa nodded, wondering where the conversation was going.

"I need your help." Kyousuke hesitated. As far as his analog was concerned, he did not have the premonition ability. How could he put this without revealing himself?

"I saw the picture of a demon just the other day. I just can't seem to get it out of my head. Can you identify it for me? Then maybe I can get some peace."

Azusa frowned a bit. Why didn't he go to Yohko about it then? She was definitely a better source than herself.

"Why don't you ask Yohko-san about this? With her training, she'd know more than me. All I know about demons is what I've heard from my grandma's stories and what books I could get away with here."

Damn. What was he supposed to say? Kyousuke thought quickly. Wait a minute. He could just tell the truth. Not the whole truth, just part of it.

"Hehehe," he forced a smile. "I'm afraid she's not speaking to me at the moment." Not that he wanted to speak with her anyway. Still, it was the truth.

"What! Then how are you going to talk to her about me?" Azusa exclaimed.

"Don't worry. I'll ask her as soon as she's calmed down. Right now, I need you to help me with the demon I saw. Okay?" Kyousuke tried to mollify her.

Calming down, Azusa thought about his request. "Okay, now describe the demon you saw. I'll see if I know it."

A smile made it's way onto Kyousuke's face. Grabbing a chair, they sat down and he told her about the demon he saw.

After listening to his description, Azusa's forehead wrinkled as she thought about it.

"I've never heard of any demon that fits your description. Are you sure it was a picture of a real demon?" She asked thoughtfully. She was sure that it was not one of the normal demon types. Why then did the description sound so familiar?

Kyousuke breathed out in relief. He had to learn to control his overactive imagination. It had gotten him into trouble more than once.

"I must have imagined it. Going out with a Devil Hunter, you know. Thanks anyway. It's really put my mind at ease." Kyousuke replied. Now that that was out of the way, he could turn his attention to more important things, namely getting home.

"You're welcome, Kyousuke-sempai. Just remember your promise." Azusa reminded him.

"I will." Kyousuke walked away from her and headed to the shelves. With some luck, he will find some material here that would help him get home.

A few hours later, Kyousuke's shoulders slumped in defeat as he closed the last book. His initial search for material about world hopping and time traveling had came up blank, so he had resorted to actually reading the books. He now knew more about psychic power than he ever wanted to know. However, he still did not know how to get home.

Sighing, he got ready to leave.

Stepping out of the library, he turned to see Mu come down the hallway.

"Kyousuke," Mu nodded at the Esper. He had not expected to see him at the Institute. He had an assignment at the Imperial Academy after all. "Why are you here?" he asked. "You are not required to practice your powers."

"Well, I thought about what you said yesterday after my test. About how much better I could be if I applied myself, so I thought I'd do something about it."

A trace of a frown crossed Mu's face. There were no official records about his current assignment, but the entire staff of the Institute and quite a number of the students knew that it was no coincidence that Kyousuke was currently going out with Devil Hunter Yohko. "And what about your assignment? You haven't forgotten that you're supposed to be Miss Mano's boyfriend, have you?"

It's an assignment? Kyousuke was surprised. What kind of life did his counterpart lead anyway?

"Actually.. I thought I'd give her some space. I don't want to appear over enthusiastic or anything. That might chase her away."

Mu looked at him with a little bit more respect. He sounded as though he actually knew what he was talking about.

"I see. I can only encourage your newfound motivation, as long as it lasts. Which of the advanced exercises have you decided to try?"

Damn. He was beginning to talk himself into a corner. "Well, I thought it might help to go back to the basics and then work from there."

Mu nodded. Kyousuke had really given it some thought. The basic skills were sometimes neglected when advancing. Now and then, it helped to revisit the basics.

"Very well, I happen to have time today. I'll help you with your exercises."

It took all of Kyousuke's self-control to not run. This was beginning to look like another LONG day.

Later that day, found Kyousuke pulling nervously at his collar. He felt completely out of place. He had never attended such galas before. The biggest events he had ever been to were the gallery openings for his father's works. This party was making him feel like a fish out of water.

Until some moments ago, he had just followed his mother around as she made her rounds. He had already been introduced to lots of important-looking people with titles that were completely archaic in his world.

He would be lucky if he could tell the difference in their rankings and positions. He greeted them as best he could and prayed to the gods that he not commit any breach of etiquette. That had at least given him something to do.

Unfortunately, all that had come to an end. Having finished with the round of pleasantries, his mother and some other people had retreated to corners unknown to talk shop. Now he was left standing all alone in the dance hall.

It was not as though he was the only teenager there, it was just that all the other teenagers seemed to avoid him. At the very best, a few would come up to him and exchange a few words before disappearing again. At worst, they would notice him coming over and walk away while making it seem like a coincidence. That suited him just fine, for it meant a lower risk of being discovered. On the other hand, it wasn't exactly how he imagined he would be spending his evening. He could only stand there in the hall, next to the punch bowl with a drink in his hand and watch everyone pass by.

Unknown to him, not everyone intended to leave him alone for the evening. From a corner, a pair of eyes have set their sights upon him, and their owner had just decided to move in on him. Targeted squarely, she walked up to Kyousuke as he watched young couples waltz away on the dance floor.

"Hello, Kyousuke," a voice called out to him. Turning around, he saw a girl with two braids wearing a very tight fitting dress as she walked up to him.

At first glance, Kyousuke almost mistook her for the Yohko girl that was supposed to be his girlfriend. He had however, gotten a close look at her face the day before and could make out the subtle differences. Of course, having a pair of twins definitely helped teach him how to tell identical-looking people apart. Especially when asking the wrong twin for something to eat could result in a beating, or even worse, her cooking.

Picking up a drink from the table, Ayako continued on. "You've been dragged here as well I see." Doing her best Yohko impersonation, she looked as though she was speaking to him grudgingly. After all, he and Yohko had just had another fight. He would be feeling REALLY vulnerable, right now. All she had to do was act as though he were the only familiar face here, then 'make up' with him. He would be so euphoric as a result he'd be putty in her fingers. *Let's see what you do after I seduce your boyfriend, Cousin Yohko.* she thought evilly.

At a loss over how to get rid of this 'sister' of Yohko, Kyousuke just stood there and half-heartedly made conversation with the girl. Or to be more accurate, listened to the girl talk and nodded and murmured something every once in a while. All the while looking as though he was enjoying it.

From another end of the hall, the real Yohko spotted Kyousuke and her cousin Ayako conversing and frowned. *She must be impersonating me again.* Yohko's ire grew. She was still furious at Kyousuke for going out with that biker slut, but there was no way in hell she was going to let Ayako get him into bed with her. As quickly as she could manage, she began to move through the crowd to forestall her cousin's plans.

"-so, why don't we go somewhere more private. Then, we can continue our conversation regarding more INTIMATE THINGS." Ayako smiled invitingly at Kyousuke. Laying her hand on his chest, her fingers played with the tie around his neck. Then, taking a step back, she started to pull him along, her actions and tone having left no question as to what those THINGS were.

Kyousuke's self-preservation instincts went off right then. A part of him was actually drawn to the idea. He had no inkling whether or not he was supposed to know this girl or what their relationship was like, but there was no way he was going to go anywhere with her. He already had a girlfriend he intended to stay true to back home.

Standing up against her attempts to pull him away, he caught hold of her hands. Gently but firmly, he pulled them away from him.

"Look, I'm not sure who you are, but I already have a girlfriend and I intend to be faithful to her." He spoke up firmly. To hell with blowing his cover. He had to get rid of her. Fast. Before he fell prey to her charms.

Those words struck Ayako harder than any physical blow could. He could tell she wasn't Yohko! That's impossible. Even within the family, they were easily mistaken for each other. When she was deliberately trying to impersonate Yohko, the number of people who could tell them apart practically came down to just their respective grandmothers. She had taken advantage of this fact many times to get her cousin into trouble. Yet this boy could tell them apart!

Standing a few feet away, out of sight from both Kyousuke and her cousin, Yohko had also heard his words and thought exactly the same thing.

Why on earth had she been angry at Kyousuke? All of a sudden, the anger she had previously felt for Kyousuke simply vanished and in it's place was a warm feeling within her. If he could tell them apart, then there must truly be a bond between them. Just for tonight, she would forgive him.

Outwardly, the frown on her face was now replaced by an ever growing smile as she stepped forward to confront her cousin and reward Kyousuke.

"Kyousuke!" Yohko called out as she came up to the two, drawing their attention. In full view of her cousin, she hooked her arm around Kyousuke's and drew him in close. "Ah," she pretended to just notice her cousin, "I see you've met my cousin Ayako." Her civil tone belied the bitter rivalry between them. "I hope she hasn't been BORING you too much with her inane chatter." She purred.

"Err." Kyousuke was at a loss for an answer. His senses told him that this was truly Yohko, but how could this be? This friendly, smiling Yohko was completely different from the furious girl he had seen yesterday afternoon.

Yohko, however, did not expect an answer from him. "Come on, let's dance." Pulling him towards the dance floor, she drew Kyousuke immediately into a tight embrace as they started to dance to the music.

Kyousuke had no idea why Yohko's opinion had changed so quickly, but he dared not spoil it. Calling upon his experience with dealing with Hikaru, he faked his enthusiasm at dancing with her.

As they danced, Yohko took the opportunity to flash Ayako a triumphant smile from behind Kyousuke's back briefly as their eyes met. This was one victory she intended to savor as much as possible.

From another part of the ballroom, Director Kasuga nodded approvingly. "It would appear that our fears regarding Kyousuke were unfounded. He seems to have completely charmed the young Devil Hunter." He remarked to his daughter beside him.

Akemi Kasuga frowned inwardly as she observed the dancing couple. "Yes, he does seem to be doing well on his assignment. The fight we heard about must have been just a small lover's spat."

"Good, then it will not be long before we can expect the Devil Hunters to be absorbed into the Institute." The Director smiled at the thought. "I must go now. Make sure those two have a good time tonight," he ordered and then made his way into the ranks of the nobles.

Out on the dance floor, Kyousuke was making the best out of his situation. In view of her good mood, he wanted to placate her where Ayukawa was concerned. 'He' would never forgive himself if he broke up with 'his girlfriend' because of his bumbling. Almost losing his true love once had taught him to appreciate how precious relationships were.

"Yohko," The girl in question looked up at him. "about yesterday..."

Yohko's mood darkened slightly. Why did he have to bring that up?

"Don't be angry anymore, please? I really meant it when I said that she was just a friend. I have absolutely no interest in her. I already know the girl I want to marry one day. I will let nothing come between us."

Yohko did not know what to say. He could be so charming sometimes. She placed a finger on his lips.

"That's okay. I believe you." Saying so, she proceeded to rest her head on his shoulder. He was simply too sheltered from the normal community. Madoka Ayukawa must have decided to exploit that weakness of his. All she needed was a few friendly words and he would think of her as a friend, ready to help her anyway he could.

Well, she was not going to let that happen, Yohko swore to herself. Madoka Ayukawa, beware. Yohko Mano will not let you get away with it.

End part 2


	3. Chapter 3

Temporal Thunder Part 3

This is a side story of S. Thesken's Quantum Destinies fanfic. All characters within are owned by their creators. Quantum Destinies was created by S. Thesken.

Note: This story is based on the Manga. Certain things happened differently compared to the TV and OVA series. It takes place almost at the end. Everything has been revealed. Madoka has left for the States and Kyousuke has broken up with Hikaru and is waiting for Madoka to return and tell him her feelings.

Part 3

Eyes closed in concentration, Kyousuke focused his powers on the task at hand. This exercise was just one more step in his quest to get his powers under control.

Around him the air began to swirl in response to his will. Within the enclosed room, a barely noticeable breeze started to blow. Wishing for a more noticeable effect, Kyousuke began to focus more power into moving the air molecules that should increase the strength of the wind.

Just as quickly as it began, the wind died. Kyousuke's eyes opened in confusion as he let the Power disperse. He had been exerting more Power. Why did the wind die down?

"Do not try to force it, Kyousuke," Mu shook his head. "You must let it just flow from you. Moving the air requires a very delicate touch. You cannot push it as if you were a bulldozer."

Still, he could not really complain about his progress. Controlling the winds was one of the most difficult pyschokinetic skills for a normal telekinetic to master. Most of the telekinetics not born with this ability were simply incapable of learning this skill. Used to exerting relatively strong forces onto compact, solid matter, it was not easy for them to change gears and disperse those forces sufficiently to affect the air around them. The fact that he was able to summon a light breeze after a day's training was testament to his abilities.

"Now try again. This time bear in mind, the air is a diffuse form of matter. There is no fixed boundary where it ends. The flow of air must thus be continuous. When you push a body of air, you must take into consideration that the neighboring bodies will also be pulled along. does not react to brute force. One must be gentle with it. Coax it and it will do your bidding.

Kyousuke nodded in understanding. Once more, he focussed his powers. It took a lot of control for him to maintain the dispersed field of force. This time, he managed to call forth a slightly stronger breeze. It was just enough to make the strands of his hair move a bit, but he was very proud of it nonetheless.

"Mu-sensei," he took advantage to ask the older Esper as the training session ended. He seemed like a nice person, maybe he could help him. "I've searched through the library, but I can't seem to find anything about time travel. Do you know where I can find material about it? Or better still, someone who can teach me the skill. I've tried to talk to Grandpa about it, but he's always busy."

Mu looked at his student with a smile. The naivete of youth. Always wanting to do things faster, better, become stronger and more powerful. Sometimes even seeking to do the impossible. "No, Kyousuke. I do not know of any material about time travel. Nor do I know anyone with the skill. Time travel is an ability that doesn't exist I'm afraid, no matter how much we wish it to be otherwise. Studies have already been made into such abilities and they have shown that such things are impossible, even for people like us."

Kyousuke started at that. "But I thought Grandpa could do it."

Mu's smile grew even larger. "Director Kasuga is one of the most powerful Espers in the Institute, true, but even he cannot break the laws of physics set by heaven."

"Oh." That killed the idea about asking his grandfather for help. Oh well, looks like he'll have to learn how to do it himself.

"Was that what you were trying to do just now?" Mu had noticed Kyousuke attempting something. As far as he could tell, he had been focussing on some goal in mind, summoned the necessary power to do it, then releasing it all in a burst and... nothing. Not a single molecule shifted, warmed or even moved.

Kyousuke shoulder's sagged. "Something like that." He had been so sure it would have worked. The precognitive dream he had last night had shown that he would be home for Ayukawa's return from the States. He would be jogging up THE steps, counting them and as he reached the top, Ayukawa would be there, wearing the red straw hat he had bought for her, teasing him about how he had miscounted again.

A wry grin made it's way on to his face. "Have to admit. It would be very useful if I could go back in time. I could correct any mistake I make." The memory of a certain Christmas came to mind. Three times was definitely a charm.

Mu smiled back. "You should just take life as it is, Kyousuke. Some mistakes in life are inevitable. You should not think of preventing them from happening. Sometimes a small mistake at the beginning can lead to a greater reward in the end," he preached.

"Yes, sir."

"Now, let's stop that futile exercise of yours. You have used enough of your power today. Go home and rest. You will have your entire life to develop your powers." With that, Mu sent the young man on his way.

Kyousuke had just left the drab compound of the Institute when he heard a voice calling his name. Turning around, he saw a familiar figure run after him.

"Azusa," Kyousuke was surprised to see her again so soon. He had explained to her yesterday morning that he would not be able to ask for any favors from the Devil Hunter Yohko in the near future. "What is it?"

"I wanted to know if you've spoken to Yohko-san about me." Azusa huffed a bit from her chase.

"..."

"Sempai, I know you made up with Yohko-san. I heard from Sakura, who heard from Miyu, who heard from Mayuko-sempai, who was at the reception last night at the Hayakawa residence that you made up with Yohko-san there and danced with her 'til late in the night." She finished the sentence in one breath.

"That sort of place isn't exactly appropriate for discussing such things, Azusa."

"Oh," Azusa's face fell, her disappointment showing clearly.

Kyousuke frantically tried to come up with a way to cheer her up again. Ice cream normally worked very well. No, he had no time for that. He had to attend Ayukawa's audition. Say, that's an idea. She was a fan of Mitsuru Hayakawa.

He had overheard at the party last night that he would be one of the judges at Ayukawa's audition today. It had brought a smile to his face as he thought how similar the situation would be to the Talent Scout Caravan. Although this time he was definitely not going to switch bodies with him before the audition.

"Hey, do you want to come with me? I'm going to hear a friend perform. I know that Mitsuru Hayakawa will be there as well. I know you're a fan of his. Maybe you can get an autograph from him or something."

Azusa's eyes grew almost to saucers, her eyes cleared. Sempai knew his identity? The identities of pop singers were nearly impossible to uncover. Society disapproved of Citizens making money from such low class pursuits like singing pop music. Classical music was promoted for the cultural growth of the Empire, but pop music was only tolerated as a form of entertainment for the lower classes. As a result, pop singers usually brought out their songs under pseudonyms to avoid society's scrutiny. Their CDs, while widely circulated among the teens, could only be bought 'under the table'. Their real identities were regarded as state secrets as far as the average teen was concerned and knowledge of it was counted to the few things that many would do anything to learn.

Sure, if it came down to it, the Security Directorate could find out their identities in a flash. Nothing could be kept secret from them for long after all. They kept an eye on everything that might threaten the social fabric. It was however, regarded thus far only as a minor phenomena, so they generally just let it continue unmolested. She heard it was considered a minor exercise for Directorate Agents to uncover their identities. Still, cadets would not be given access to such information for private purposes. Sempai must have some serious sources for him to learn such things.

"Gimme a minute. I need to get my CD," Azusa told him. She would be nuts to pass up such an opportunity. Getting an autographed CD would make her the envy of all her friends. With as much speed as she dared, she dashed back into the Institute.

"Sempai, what are we doing here?" Azusa inquired, looking nervously around the crowded auditorium. When she heard that they would be meeting Mitsuru Hayakawa, she had assumed there was going to be some sort of small, underground performance taking place. The school auditorium of the Onraku Academy for Advanced Culture, and on a school day at that, was definitely not on her list of places where such a thing would take place. The administration would howl in protest of such an event on their campus.

Azusa felt a touch of agoraphobia. She was normally not very extroverted and did not mingle with others very often. This was further compounded by the fact that she belonged to the Mobius Institute. The normals she knew were mostly limited to members of her own family. Her parents she saw only when she went home for visits, and her aunt and cousin, Hitomi, with whom she lived here in Tokyo. All others avoid her when they saw her Mobius pin. As a result, this was the first time she had ever been in such a large congregation of people.

"My friend is having an audition here. If she does well, she'll be accepted as a student here. I'm here to give her moral support." Kyousuke replied.

"And what does that have to do with Mitsuru Hayakawa being here?" Azusa really did not want to sound self-centered, but all these people made her nervous.

"He's one of the judges." Kyousuke searched the auditorium. There was the judge's table, but he did not see the idol singer. One of the seats was empty though. For that matter, Ayukawa was not to be seen either.

"I don't think he's here yet. Tell you what, we'll go backstage first and I'll say hello to Ayukawa. Then we'll come out again and wait for him."

Azusa nodded even though she was confused as to what a pop singer would be doing HERE, at Onraku of all places, as a judge. Still Sempai seemed to know what he was doing, so she just followed his lead. To get the autograph of her pop idol, she would endure any hardship.

Kazuto Hayakawa, son of Lord Hayakawa, had just finished informing Madoka of the extra song that she had to perform for her audition. It was to be a song of her own personal choice, which would best reflect herself.

"We realize that it would be unfair of us to give you so little warning. We can hold the judging for your technical ability and improvisation today. You can come back another day to perform your song," he turned to the other person in the room, "Miss Shimitsu will arrange it. It would give you time to practice and to prepare the background music."

Madoka considered the offer. This would just delay the whole process of her rejection. Might as well get it over with today.

"No thanks," she shook her head. She reached into her bag. She played once in a while for her cousin's band and had a tape of one of their sessions. The lead singer was her cousin's girlfriend, but Madoka could sing the same songs in a pinch. She handed the tape over to the judge.

"I'll sing the song on the tape." She shrugged.

He looked at the proffered tape. The title of the song was unknown to him. "Are you sure? We won't hold it against you in any way if you were to come in another day."

Madoka nodded. "I'm sure."

He gave Shiori an uncertain look then turned back to Madoka. "Very well. I'll arrange for it to be played. Miss Shimitsu, if I could speak to you in private for a moment?" he motioned for her to enter the adjoining room and followed her in.

As soon as the door was closed, the two dropped the professional facade they maintained in front of strangers. Shiori rushed into his arms where he held her tenderly.

They had been classmates back in school. It was there that their relationship had begun. They had been young then, they had dreamed of finishing their studies and going on to teach in the same school, and then getting married. That was not to be.

As the son of an influential noble, his father had objected to their relationship. He would not have his son marrying a mere Citizen from the middle class. He had forbidden the two from seeing each other and had arranged for the two to be separated after their stint at the Teacher's Academy. He had been sent to Blackhall to serve as a music teacher and she was sent to oversee the probation of problem students. It was rare that they had such a chance to meet.

Fortune had truly smiled on them to arrange this opportunity to meet. Shiori having to organize Madoka's audition gave them the perfect excuse to meet. He had arranged for the quick audition by calling upon all the favors he had with his colleagues. Lord Hayakawa would learn of their little rendezvous, but would be unable to do anything about it as they did have a legitimate reason for coming together. It was unfortunate that the girl did not want to return another day.

"It's good to see you again. Even if it will be only for a short while." Kazuto leaned close to Shiori. He took in a deep breath, savoring her perfume.

"I missed you too," Shiori fought back tears of joy. Enjoying each other's presence, they brought their heads together for a long deep kiss. No words were spoken between them. They just held each other tightly, praying that the moment would never end.

Kyousuke and Azusa stepped into the room cautiously. The lavishly decorated dressing room was empty except for Madoka.

"Hello, Ayukawa," he greeted her. He saw her sitting on a chair, studying a song sheet.

"Kasuga-kun," Madoka stood up upon seeing him. My god, he had really come to her audition. His would be the only friendly face in the audience. Her eyes shifted then to where Azusa stood.

"Oh, this is Azusa. Azusa, this is my friend Madoka," he introduced them to one another.

"Azusa is here to get an autograph from Mitsuru Hayakawa. She's a fan of his," he explained.

Madoka's brows furrowed. Through her cousin Shuichi she was pretty familiar with the underground scene for pop music, but even she had never seen him before in person. "Really? I've heard of him, but what would he be doing here?"

"Kyousuke-sempai, says he's one of the judges." Azusa spoke up. She looked the older girl, Madoka, up and down. She seemed to be a nice girl. Very pretty, with a figure that put her own developing one to shame.

"Well, I wish you luck, Azusa. You know how hard it is to get such things." Madoka addressed her. Turning back to Kyousuke, she said, "Thanks for coming. I'm afraid you'll be my only supporter here."

Kyousuke could not believe his ears. "I'm sure your other friends will be here too." He could not believe that her friends, especially Hikaru, would leave her alone on a day like this.

This elicited a slight smile from Madoka. There were some things he could be truly clueless about. Even if some of her friends dared to enter the gates of this school, they would be turned away by the campus security upon seeing their uniforms. Still, it didn't hurt for him to claim otherwise.

In the side room, the forbidden couple broke apart with the greatest reluctance. Who knows when they would have the chance to meet again?

"We better go. My student must be wondering what is taking so long." Shiori told her lover.

Kazuto sighed and nodded. There was only so much they could do without raising suspicion. If word got back to his father, Shiori would have hell to pay. Straightening their clothes and wiping off any smeared lipstick, they made sure that neither showed any signs of their intimate embrace before they headed out.

Kazuto frowned as he saw that Madoka was not alone. She was talking to a young man her age. Kyousuke Kasuga. He recognized the young man from the ball last night. He was the grandson of the Director of the Mobius Institute. A powerful telekinetic and teleporter from what he had heard. His telepathy was to be restricted to communication with other psychics only though. At his side stood another girl from the Mobius Institute. The markings on her pin marked her as an apprentice magic-user.

Kyousuke saw Mitsuru Hayakawa enter the room and smiled. Looks like Azusa was going to get her autograph after all. His eyes then shifted to the woman by his side. He was beginning to get a real bad case of deja-vu. Then again, why not? They were a couple after all. So long as he did not switch bodies with him again.

He remembered all too well how he had met the two. The confusion caused by his body swap power, dinner with Shiori, the search for his own body and the subsequent reunion of the two lovebirds. And how could he forget the panic that had set in when he thought Mitsuru would reveal to the whole world about his powers? Instead he had publicly declared that he already had a girlfriend even though it would have hurt his career.

"Hi," he greeted them with a grin and turned to the silent Azusa and prompted her, "well?"

"Well what?" Azusa came up with a blank about what he was trying to say.

"Mitsuru Hayakawa. Didn't you say you wanted his autograph?" Kyousuke did not know what she was waiting for. He was standing right in front of her.

"Yes," Azusa still did not get it.

"He is Mitsuru Hayakawa?" Kyousuke wondered how a self professed fan could fail to recognize her idol.

"Oh," Realization dawned on Azusa. HE was Mitsuru Hayakawa. She went up to her favorite singer hesitantly. Bowing deeply, she stretched her hands out with the CD in them and asked, "My name is Azusa Kanzaki. Mitsuru Hayakawa-san, could I please have your autograph?"

Madoka's eyebrows shot up. HE was a pop singer? And Mitsuru Hayakawa to boot. She had to admit his ingenuity though for choosing a stage name so close to his own. No one would ever come up with the idea that someone would be so dumb as to do something like that. Hiding something in plain sight, as it was taught in class.

Shiori were shocked to say the least. Until short moments ago, she had thought this secret project of Kazuto's was only known to the few close confidants he had.

Kazuto took the CD in hand gingerly as though it might burn him. His gaze went from Azusa to Kyousuke. His second darkest secret was known to them. He knew through his own connections in the Security Directorate that they were ignorant of his secret. That and the fact that his father had not taken him to task for singing what he called 'noise that only served to dull the minds of the young'. Then again, the Psychic Division had always been autonomous from the main section. They could have found out about it and chosen not to inform them.

"So, you just want my autograph?" He took out a pen from his pocket and signed the CD. No telling how far they want to push this blackmail.

"Well..." Azusa considered how she could best use this opportunity. Perhaps an invitation to his next underground concert?

"Azusa..." Kyousuke warned her before she could voice out any requests. He knew that look on her face. "Be happy with what you have. We're here to listen to Ayukawa's audition, remember?"

Azusa lowered head, properly chastened. "Okay," she took back the CD, "Thank you very much." She bowed once more.

"Then it's best that we head out. The audition will be starting soon." He motioned them to the door. "Miss Ayukawa, ten minutes." He tapped on his timepiece as they filed out.

Kyousuke and Azusa made their way to the performance hall. They had had no problems finding seats in the hall. The students were only all too willing to vacate their seats for them. This almost brought a sigh to Kyousuke's lips. Espers were people too. Azusa, he noted, seemed to be resigned to such behavior. If only there was something he could do to help, he thought as they settled down and waited for the start of the audition.

Kazuto nodded in approval as he listened to Madoka perform the standard recital pieces for grading music students. The first piece was an old folk song praising the beauty of the cherry blossoms. It's tempo was slow and the melody was smooth. The way each of the chords flowed into the next made it challenging for singers to keep time by listening for cues.

The second mandatory was one of those patriotism-building anthems. In contrast to the first, this song had a fast martial beat requiring the performer to sing widely separated tones quickly without pause.

He had to admit. She was very good. As far as he could tell, both songs had been performed with a standard that he would expect from the best at the academy. That, he mused, was exactly the problem he and the other judges faced. Her performance was too good. No missed cues, off notes, unsteady tones and perfect time keeping. They could hear the emotions of the songs come forth from her throat. The beauty of the sakura, the lament at their passing, the faith in the Empire and the gladness at the Empire's unrelenting march. If it was all up to him, she would be accepted without a complaint. He was sure his colleagues would all agree with his opinion. They could certainly use another student of her ability.

The only thing that held him back was her past. Theirs was one of the most prestigious institutions in the Empire. They had a reputation to maintain. The board would never agree to let her study here. He knew it. His fellow judges knew it.

His eyes fell down to the sheet of paper before him. The next song's title was not known to him. A recent composition by an unknown song writer, he guessed. A very bold move to choose such an unknown for her audition. He definitely admired her courage, but it would not help her. After it was over, he and the other judges would put it to a vote and there was no question as to how the result would fall.

The first chords of the synthesizer echoed through the hall like a wave of thunder. This was followed quickly by the fast beat of the drum and the sounds of an electric guitar. Madoka set her foot moving to the sound of the beat as she took in the shocked expressions in the room. She was realistic about her chances of being accepted, no matter how well she sang, but she was going to leave this place knowing that she had done her best. This last song was going to be her way of snubbing the musicians here. There was a short moment of mild curiosity as she saw Kyousuke's reaction to the song. Why would his face light up like that? She put that out of her mind as she heard her cue to begin the song.

"Makezugirai no lonely heart

Sotto kaban ni tsumekonda

Yoru tabi dekaketa

Kakaekirenai Joy and Pain

Atsui beat ni nokkete utau

Lonely hearts club band"

Kyousuke could not believe it. Ayukawa was singing the same song she had performed at the Talent Caravan. He had gotten a second chance to see her perform it live. Sure he still had that video of her performance back at the Talent Caravan, but was nothing compared to seeing her sing it in person.

A sidelong glance at Azusa told him that she was enjoying it as well. He could almost see the stars in her eyes.

"Hoshi ga yozora o nagare

tsuki ga kimi o teraseba...

Machi no noise ga kieteshimau

You just call me...

Kimi wa doko? Kaze no machi

Manazashi ga tsukamenai

Ashita wa 'north' 'west' 'south' 'east' kimagure"

My god, thought Kazuto, the charisma she exuded. He knew she was good when he heard her perform the previous songs, but this was unbelievable. She had actually captured the attention of every single person in the hall and held them in her thrall. Even with his experience in the music scene, he had never heard or seen such a wonderful performance before.

Silence filled the hall as the last strains of the song faded away. Standing confidently on the stage, Madoka had her head lowered and her right arm was stretched out to the side. Dropping her last pose, she was surprised to hear the sounds of clapping from the front row.

Looking up, she found Asuka clapping away. She was followed by Kyousuke albeit at a more normal pace. As the other members of the audience noticed it, they too began, hesitantly at first then gaining momentum, to join in the applause. Soon, the entire hall with the thunderous roar of clapping.

Over the sounds of applause, the judges began to discuss their decision. What had initially would have been a sure decision was now creating a stir among them.

"Look, I'm not saying that she isn't talented," Matsuo Nakajima, a fellow judge to Kazuto's right admitted, "You'd have to be deaf to think that, but she simply does not fit in here. She's too much of a rebel. That last song of hers pretty much proved that."

"You're not suggesting that we let a prodigy like her slip through our fingers like that, are you?" Kazuto countered calmly. The last performance had been excellent beyond their expectations. Still, he had not expected his fellow judges to just admit the girl without any protest. "It would be a waste if she were not able to develop it to the fullest."

He knew that that would shake at least a few of them from their previously unwavering positions. The mission statement of the Ministry of Education was to see that every single Citizen of the Empire was pushed to do his or her best. For wasted potential translated into wasted chances for the Empire to achieve it's rightful position in the world.

"It would be a greater waste if the studies of our students is disrupted by her presence. Take a look at her conduct report. It's just filled with mentions of fighting both in and out of school. She is wild and undisciplined. Her behavior is completely unsuited for such a premier teaching institution like Onraku. Her presence here would be a blight upon the reputation of our school. The other students would never accept her. They'd make trouble for her and even you can see what would happen. What if she were to attack a fellow student from a higher station? There'd be hell to pay," he argued back.

"I have read it," A beautiful, slim young woman with dark shoulder length hair to Kazuto's right answered dryly, "it is also noted that she has never made any unprovoked attacks on others. Her fights were always initiated by other students. It is possible that as long as our students behave themselves Miss Ayukawa wouldn't get into any fights with them. Besides," she cocked her head at the packed auditorium, "I think there are enough students who were impressed by her performance just now."

Kazuto allowed himself a small smile. Kanna Toreishi was a good friend and one of the more open-minded teachers here at Onraku. In addition to being a fellow music instructor, she was also his occasional partner in crime in the pop industry, but more importantly, she was also a member of the school board, a testament to her abilities. Her opinion would carry weight among the other judges.

"But that is not the point. We are here to judge whether her musical abilities qualify her to study at Onraku. Not to wax poetic about whether she would fit in or how her presence would damage the reputation of our school. I think we can all agree that Miss Ayukawa has more than enough talent to enter the school, am I right?" she asked her fellow judges. No protests were forthcoming from the others.

Finally, Matsuo gave a sigh of exasperation. "Okay, okay. I give up, you win, but have you considered what you're going to tell the school board? We heard her sing. We know how good she is, but they're not going to see it that way. They will be too interested in maintaining the reputation of the school to permit such a thing. Especially if they hear that she performed a pop song here," the board was famous for their hatred for the new form of music, "even if we accept her now there's no guarantee that they won't overturn the decision later."

Grimaces appeared on the faces of almost all the judges. "She would just be here on probation for the first few months, but you're right, that would be a problem," Kanna admitted. She raised an eyebrow in question as she noticed the half hidden smile on Kazuto's face.

"Leave them to me, I think I know how I can convince them." he said, the smile was beginning to grow. Gears were starting to turn in his head as looked over to where Madoka stood. Yes, that would work. He wouldn't even have to lie. All he'd have to do was say that there were interested Mobius Institute cadets present at the audition and let them draw their own conclusions. Maybe they were just here by chance, maybe the Mobius Institute really had some sort of hidden plan. He didn't give a damn. Someone of her talent should be given the chance.

"Don't worry about it, Ayukawa," Kyousuke reassured her, "I'm sure you'll get in. The judges will recognize your talent. Especially after you sang 'Kaze no Manazashii' for them. You're a shoo-in."

"Yeah, you're really good." Azusa echoed his sentiments. She couldn't help marvel at how Kyousuke-sempai managed to befriend such a wonderful singer.

Madoka didn't give him a reply. Outwardly, she was cool and calm, but under her skin she was a nervous wreck. The murmuring of the crowd did not help either. Those judges were real music experts. Their judgement would tell her whether she had the ability to become a world-class performer or if she'd be condemned to be an amateur like her parents for the rest of her life.

By her side, Shiori waited in silence. She didn't want to be such a pessimist, but she knew how things worked. Madoka already had two strikes against her, coming from a poor working class family and her delinquency report at a reformatory, even with her stellar performance just now and Kazuto's influence she held out not much hope for her.

Madoka felt her throat tighten as she saw the judge approach. The volume in the auditorium dropped as the students noticed this as well. The moment of truth had finally come. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she waited for him to pronounce judgement.

Kazuto kept up a serious facade as he walked up to Madoka. "Congratulations, Miss Ayukawa. We've decided to accept you on probation. We do however expect you to be on your best behavior during your probation period and not disgrace us in anyway. Further, we expect that you will do best in your studies and..."

The rest of his words faded away as Madoka went into shock. She did it. She'd been accepted. Only on probation, of course, but that in itself was a great achievement. Wait till she told her parents about ... Oh my god, she'd never told them about it. She hadn't believed that she'd ever be accepted, so she didn't want to raise any false hopes, but now... Madoka felt giddy from the news.

Hikaru jumped off the bike before it came to a complete stop. She couldn't believe how late she was. Madoka's audition was long past by now. She could only hope that she would at least be in time to catch her before she left.

Madoka would be crushed by the rejection. She had grown up with her long enough to know how much music meant to her. They may not have the same parents, but they had grown up together and were closer than any real sisters.

"Hurry up, you idiot. It's all your fault that we're late" she snapped at Yuusaku as he parked his bike next to Madoka's bike just outside the gates of the Onraku Academy. With a long suffering sigh, he turned off the engine.

"Hikaru," he started, "it doesn't matter if we're late or not. We wouldn't have been able to enter anyway. We can't just barge in like in a normal school. Too many damned noble spawns here. We'd be crushed by the Security Directorate if we did."

Hikaru opened her mouth to protest that Madoka needed them, but then closed it as she grudgingly admitted that he was right. They'd have to wait out here for Madoka. It was well known to all biker gangs that they owed their continued existence to the low profile they kept. As long as there was no publicity directed at them, the Directorate would suffer their continued presence.

Since their members were predominantly from the lower classes and their hangouts in less well maintained districts (The Land Cultivation Ministry would never allow slums to develop like those in the barbarian lands), they were generally ignored by the populace. Fights could break out between gangs for control of land and members so long as nobody protested too loudly. Piss off someone with influence in the Imperial Household however, no matter how slight the insult and you'd be lucky to escape with your limbs intact.

Madoka walked out of the gates still in a daze. She pinched herself one more time to prove she was not dreaming. She tried not to get too excited over the decision. After all, she had not been fully accepted into the Academy. She would just be there on a probationary basis. There were still a lot of things that could happen during that period that would get her kicked out again. She failed miserably as a smile found its way onto her face. She couldn't believe that she'd be able to study here at the premier Academy of high Arts in the entire Empire.

"Madoka." The sound of someone calling her name brought her back to the present. She looked in the direction of the cry and her mood brightened even more.

"Hikaru," she greeted the girl with the light brown hair as she was wrapped up in the younger girl's embrace.

"Sorry for not being here earlier to hear you sing, but the dimwit here refused to ride faster." Hikaru apologized.

"That's alright. You're here now. Yuusaku," Madoka greeted him.

"So, how did it go?" Hikaru asked, "don't worry if they made fun of your singing. I'll bet they wouldn't know real talent if it hit them over their head."

Kyousuke walked out of the gate with Azusa in tow. If she got any more excited over the day's events, he was sure they'd have to give her an insulin shot to calm her down.

"Wow, Ayukawa-san is a great singer, Kyousuke-sempai. I'm glad you brought me along. I mean, just getting to meet Mitsuru Hayakawa was alone was terrific, but then hearing that song with an auditorium's acoustics..." she gushed.

"Glad you had a good time."

"I have to go now. Thanks for the great time." She waved goodbye as she began to run down the road.

Kyousuke smiled back at her. Azusa was an enthusiastic girl, just like Hikaru. He certainly hoped she would get her wish to become a Devil Hunter.

He turned around to head for 'home' and found himself seeing a few more familiar faces. Standing a short way down the road, Ayukawa was talking with Hikaru. Yuusaku was also with them.

"WHAT?" Shock registered on the faces of both Hikaru and Yuusaku.

"That's right, Hikaru. They've allowed me to come here for my probation period." Madoka explained.

"That's great. I'm so happy for you, Madoka," Hikaru was all excited. A thought gave her pause though. "Marin's not going to be happy about it though."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to leave the gang. She won't have any reason to get upset." Madoka reassured her.

Hikaru eyes widened as she spotted the Esper in the Imperial Academy uniform come their way.

"What are you doing here?" she growled at Kyousuke as he came near. Today she had Yuusaku with them as well. She wasn't going to run away this time.

"Ahh... I was here to hear Ayukawa sing and give her some moral support." Kyousuke was not used to seeing a hostile Hikaru.

"Well, she doesn't need it. We don't need you stupid brain eaters in our lives. Stay away from Madoka if you know what's good for you."

Madoka was shocked at her outburst. While she did not relish the thought of having an Esper around anymore than she did, Kasuga had seemed like a nice person. It wasn't fair to be so rude to him without any reason.

"Hikaru, ignore him." Madoka told her friend. Her voice showed no emotion. She got on her bike, making sure not to meet his gaze. "Let's go, I doubt we'll see him again." She started the engine. Without a single word to Kyousuke, she released the clutch and rode away.

Seeing Madoka leave, Hikaru paused just long enough to shoot Kyousuke another venomous look before joining Yuusaku on his bike and rode off in pursuit.

Kyousuke finished writing down the day's events, set the pen down on the table and looked at his work. He certainly hoped his analog appreciated his efforts. What a day. He had had a productive day learning to better control his powers, but he also knew he still had a long way to go. He picked up a few books on psychic powers and started for the bed. Time for some light reading before dinner.

There was no doubt that he would get home, his premonition dream told him that much. The only question was when. He did not know how long he could keep up this masquerade. At the same time, he did not want to find out what they would do to him if he came clean. Security was very high on the list for the Mobius Institute.

A sudden mental feeler stopped him in his tracks. He quickly scrambled to protect his mind by filling it with useless thoughts, or with what was described as 'white noise' in one of his analog's books about mental defense. He began to recite various nursery rhymes in an attempt to ward off the intrusion.

*Er... hello?* a cautious voice spoke, *am I getting through?*

*Who is this?* Kyousuke carefully let his clumsy attempt at a thought shield down. What he had taken for a psychic attack had just been someone building a mental connection with him. He could feel the other person on the other end of the 'line'.

*Kyousuke, and I mean both of you. The two of you can hear each other just fine. Now stop fooling around. Our time is short,* a familiar gruff voice entered the mental connection.

*Grandpa,* Kyousuke started in realization. This could only mean that the other person was this world's Kyousuke. *Grandpa, can you use your power to bring me home and send my other me here?* he quickly asked.

*No,* Kyousuke felt his hopes collapse. *The two of you are going to have to do it yourselves.*

*Do it ourselves? But I can't do it. I tried it this morning. It didn't work.* Kyousuke protested.

*I know. I felt you try. I got teleported each time without warning.* his other self interrupted.

*Kyousuke, I can't hold this connection between the two of you for too long so listen up. I've already told your analog here what we have to do. Both of you have to activate this power of yours together to switch you two back. Kyousuke, I'll explain it to you once you're back.*

*Okay, Grandpa.*

*Good, now on the count of three, both of you focus your powers on getting home. Your link will do the rest. Okay? One, two, three*

Summoning all his available power, Kyousuke bent his mind to the task of getting home. In his mind's eye, he could see his other self doing the same thing. He began to feel something exert a pull on him, guiding him, calling him with the lure of a siren song. He hadn't had the chance to properly experience it before, but this felt in a way just like the first time he had learned how to teleport. At the same time, there was an unfamiliar feel to it as images began to rush past his consciousness too fast for him to grasp.

Had anybody been observing the scene, it would have seemed like the air around Kyousuke Kasuga had just shimmered. The only visible clue that betrayed the recent feat of metaphysics was the sudden change in clothes he had undergone. Where he had been wearing a plain green shirt with dark trousers a moment ago, he now wore a Tokyo Giants jacket over a T-shirt with the picture of the Hummingbirds on it. Levi's jeans completed the look of a typical teenager from the world he had just visited. He carried a small bag of souvenirs, thoughtfully provided by his kind 'sister', in his right hand.

Kyousuke Kasuga of the Mobius Institute was relieved to find himself back in his own bedroom again. That had been the most amazing experience. He had found himself in a world where people were unaware of the existence of Espers and the supernatural. He had been able to mingle with normal people without them shying away. It had been a learning experience for how they acted in real life that he was sure would help him in his duties in the future.

He dropped the bag onto the floor. He had to inform the Institute of this new power of his. He certainly hoped they hadn't treated his analog too badly while he was here. After all, his family there, as well as the people had made his time there a completely wonderful and unforgettable time there.

He raised his hand to massage his sore neck a bit. Okay, so maybe not completely wonderful. Manami was a real angel. It had been nice having a younger sister like her to help him. Kurumi, on the other hand...

He could somehow understand why his analog was a bit more powerful, and at the same time, less disciplined than he. Stopping to affix his Mobius pin on his attire, he headed to look for his mother. This was one tale that would be hard to believe.

The Director of the Mobius Institute was silent as he considered the situation before him. His grandson was definitely going to become one of the most powerful Espers in the world. He had already developed a power that had been completely unknown to the Institute.

"Very well, Kyousuke. We've finished with your debriefing. You can go now. I want you to know that this incident will be classified as level Black. Understood? Do not mention this anyone. Not even to the Mano girl."

Kyousuke paled. Level Black? That was the highest level of secrecy in the Institute. Need to know only. He gulped. He would follow orders the best he could.

"Ah... I'm just curious. That other me didn't get into too much trouble with Yohko, did he? She was already pretty mad at me when we last met."

"No, he didn't. He even helped you make up with her. You'll find out what he did from the journal he left behind. I'll see that you get a transcript of it." Director Kasuga told his grandson. Several things became clear to him now. Like how Kyousuke had been able to tell apart the Devil Hunter and her ninja cousin without a psychic check.

"Thank you, sir."

Director Kasuga waited until Kyousuke had left the room before turning to his daughter.

"What do you intend to do about this?" Akemi chose her words carefully as she walked to the front of the desk. The brief glimpse of the other world, where Takeshi had still been alive and Kyousuke had a pair of younger sisters, had been a real eye opener. "I am ready to assume full responsibility for it. I've not only failed as an agent of the Institute, as his mother I should have noticed the switch."

"No one is going to receive any disciplinary action," Director Kasuga snorted, "You are not completely at fault. You spend little enough time with Kyousuke as it is. Even I had not noticed anything out of the ordinary myself."

Calling up the guard records for the various checkpoints for the past few days, he winced as he saw how often it had been recorded that his grandson had passed through the major checkpoints. "Besides, we'd lose half our security personnel if I did that. What happened was not a case of possession, mind control, impersonation or even cloning. Wards, brainwashing checks or even true seeing would not work in this case. For all intents and purposes, it had been Kyousuke who had been coming to the Institute the past few days. There had been nothing that could have tipped off anyone here that something was wrong. They were identical down to the DNA level. Even their personalities and auras were close enough that not even a normal scan revealed anything. The only way would have been to have a full scale mind probe into his past."

Akemi considered her next words carefully. Now that they knew that such things could happen, it was the duty of the Institute to make sure that it could not harm the Empire. That would entail identifying such individuals that came from parallel worlds, monitoring them and if need be neutralizing them.

"While it would slow down things in an emergency, we could conduct such probes at the entry points to sensitive areas within the Institute itself, but I doubt any of the higher members of the court would agree to such a thing."

Director Kasuga heaved a sigh. There were limits even to the carte blanche that the Institute possessed. "We will have to do more research on this kind of travel. Find other ways to detect it. Possibly even send out scouting teams to look for such capability." A sour look crossed his face. Sending operatives on such missions could really complicate things. If they came across a world almost exactly similar to their own, would the decrees of that world's Director or Emperor be valid?

Akemi let the idea run through her head. That would mean that Kyousuke was going to be instrumental in building such a defense. "Who will you be arranging to take Kyousuke's place at the Academy?"

The Director hesitated before answering. Espers usually went through life with the same powers. New ways of how to use such powers could be learned, but that was pretty much all that could be done. It was rare for Espers to develop any new powers. Standard Institute policy in such an event was for the Esper in question was to return to the Institute for training until the new power had been brought under control. He or she was to stay away from public areas until such time. All public displays of supernatural power must be carefully orchestrated in order to nurture trust. Uncontrolled outbursts would only sow suspicion among the population and complicate the Institute's monitoring efforts.

Kyousuke had not just developed one new power, he had gained two new powers. In addition to the power to travel to parallel worlds, he had somehow also developed the power to dream the future. It had been the latter power that had given him foreknowledge about his return. While he could arrange for Hinoto tutor him on how to control his precognitive dreams, the former power raised some very prickly problems.

During the time which the Esper learned to control any new powers, the Esper would be assigned a mentor. This mentor however, could not just tell the Esper how to use the power, he or she could only provide guidance. An Esper's powers were just like a vehicle that only the Esper could use. Only with use could one learn how to use it properly without causing an accident. The main purpose of having a mentor on the other hand, was to avert any accidents. Without such safeguards, many a pyrokinetic would have spontaneously combusted himself, or worse, another person. Other powers could also create potentially life threatening situations.

There was however, no one in the Institute who could monitor Kyousuke's progress with this world traveling power. Hmm... he was going to have to come up with a better name for it than world traveling power. Kyousuke was going to have to learn on his own. Bringing him back would not be much help. On the contrary, if he were to worldwalk, no that sounded horrible, straight into an alternate Mobius Institute, he ran a very high risk of being detained, brainwashed or even killed.

There was also other factors to consider. The least of which being his present assignment.

"No, Kyousuke stays where he is. He's come too far on his present assignment to abort now. The Devil Hunter might be less inclined to let another Institute cadet into her heart if we were to break them up now."

"I see. If there is nothing else, I will excuse myself." Akemi saw the Director nod his assent and left the office.

The table splintered apart as it was subjected to the fist of the one called Jima. They had lost. The biker gang he had been supporting had fought another gang for control of a precinct and was driven away. It was an unforgivable event.

"I see you've heard the news." He growled at the female that entered the room. If he hadn't needed her as a figurehead he would have gotten rid of her long ago.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Shaina Ginshi tried her best not to gloat. After all, this loss HER gang, not Jima's, but hers, had met was a blow to her reputation as well. It DID however, give her a handle to deal with the unpredictable, but powerful fighter. "Our deal was that you make my gang the most influential in Tokyo if we did a little of your dirty work for you."

Jima fought to control his anger. It would not had been long before he had gained control over all the biker gangs if it hadn't been for this unforeseen loss. All it would have taken for him to consolidate his power would have been one or two more overwhelming wins and all the remaining gangs would have bowed to him.

"I let them lose," he lied. He would have to feed her something convincing to get her continued cooperation. "We cannot win all the time. The authorities might find it suspicious. I don't like needing to do it either, but small sacrifices must be made for our, no your eventual victory." He corrected himself when he saw he had chosen the wrong words.

"You promised that we didn't have anything to fear from the Security Directorate."

He shrugged. "You don't. As long as you have my aid they will not take any action against you." It had been too simple to ensure that. The web of plotting and deceit in this city was almost enough to make him think he was back home. All he had had to do was tug at a few of those string, sometimes not even needing to resort to his powers, just a few words or several thousand yen here and there and everyone would happily turn a blind eye to his own machinations. Even the infamous Mobius Institute would not notice anything until it was too late. His powers were more than a match for them. "I can't let it show too much though. If the other gangs suspect anything, they would join forces against you. Even I cannot help you if that happens."

"Very well, try not to make this necessary too often. Others might decide that you are not infallible." She made just one last barb. Understanding that she would not get anything else useful from him, Shaina decided to leave him alone. It would not do to provoke him too far after all. She may find him repulsive, but he was still useful to her.

Jima paid no attention to her exit. Something had happened this afternoon. A burst of power so similar to his own and yet at the same time different had erupted somewhere in the city. He had thought that he had felt something sometime in the morning, but had dismissed it. The one in the afternoon however was unmistakable. It had been the cause of the lost fight.

He took a moment to examine himself. His wounds were healing nicely. It had taken years, but now almost a quarter of his scars had faded. His power was returning slowly but surely. Even if forced into battle with his mortal enemy right now, he would still be victorious.

Unfortunately, it might not be enough. Someone out there wielded a power close to his own. It had been too brief for him to identify the user and what had been done this afternoon, but it was enough to give him pause. He had had to remove his influence from the fight in hopes of remaining undetected.

He growled once more at the thought of his helplessness. His timetable would now have to be pushed back. There was no question about it. He could count the number of beings on one hand with powers similar to his. With only a quarter of his full power available, he did not dare to get into a fight with any of them. If he was lucky, he would just be destroyed. If not, there were worse fates than death. He should know. He had inflicted many of them on his enemies before.

Still, the very idea galled him. He may have all the time in the world, but that did not mean he liked having to wait to take his rightful place. He silently promised himself that whoever it was who had thrown this wrench into his plans, he, she or it shall pay.


End file.
